■CONDITION fp®
TINNEVELLY SHANARS
A SKETCH
LIBRARIAN
Bishop Stephen Neill Study
Of ancJ Research Centre
C( v [ c ^-TirooeIveIi Diocese)
" , ohn , s c oi)ege Hostel Campos
| THEIR RELIGION, AND
AND CHARACTERISTICS, AS A
WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO
THE FACILITIES AND HINDRANCES TO THE PROGRESS
OF CHRISTIANITY AMONGST THEM.
By
THE REV. R. Caldwell, B.A.
^ Missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign
Parts, at Edeyengoody, Tinnevelly.
MADRAS
\ PRINTED BY REUBEN TWIGG, AT THE CHRISTIAN
\ SOCIETY'S PRESS, CHURCH STREET, VEPERY,
ft,. ' •• <
1
THE
TINNEVELLY SHANARS
A SKETCH
Of
THEIR RELIGION, AND THEIR MORAL CONDITION
AND CHARACTERISTICS, AS A CASTE:
WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO
THE FACILITIES AND HINDRANCES TO THE PROGRESS
OF CHRISTIANITY AMONGST THEM.
By
THE REV. R. Caldwell, B.A.
Missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign
Parts, at Edeyengoody, Tinnevelly.
MADRAS
PRINTED BY REUBEN TWIGG, AT THE CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE
SOCIETY'S PRESS, CHURCH STREET, VEPERY,
1849
2
THE TINNEVELLY SHANARS
From time to time varic Is published Reports have
communicated a considerable amount of information respecting the
history and the internal economy, the progress and prospects of the
Missions in Tinnevelly. But notwithstanding those Reports, persons
residing in England cannot have a very distinct idea either of the
nature of missionary work in this province, or of the nature of the
difficulties connected with it, and the proportionate value of the
results that have been obtained, without more specific information
respecting the characteristics and condition of the inhabitants in
their heathen state. I therefore have thought that a sketch of the
religious and moral condition of the heathen population, with
special reference to those castes and classes to which the majority
of our converts originally belonged, and amongst which we
continue to have most influence ; with observations on their social
condition and mental characteristics, in so far as they affect their
moral condition and prospects, may enable some persons to form a
more distinct idea of the peculiarities of this sphere of missionary
labour, and tend to excite them to a more practical interest in it.
In attempting to describe the religious or social
condition of any class of people, it is a necessary preliminary to
state who and what they are, and in what position they stand
relatively to other classes. The castes to which the greater number
of the members of our native congregations belong,form the bulk
of the population in the south of Tinnevelly; and probably
comprise a majority of the entire population of the province. Of
the Christians the most numerous class is composed of Shanars,
inclusive of the various sub-divisions and off-shoots of the caste.
The next consists of Pariars and Pullers, the hereditary slaves of
the wealthier classes ; and last in the order of number follow the
Maravers, with a still smaller proportion of Vellalers, Naicks,
Retties, and other high castes. In classifying the native Christians of
S
3
this neighbourhood according to their numerical order, I very
nearly exhibit the proportion which the various castes, Mahomedans
excepted, bear to the total amount of the population in the majority
of the missionary districts. Consequently,an acquaintance with the
prevailing characteristics of the classes I have mentioned m their
heathen state will be found to throw much light on the condition
of the native Christians.
As the Shanars are the most numerous class amongst the
heathens in the south-eastern parts of Tinnevelly, and form by far
the largest body in connection with the Missions, and as they have
contributed more than any other class to the formation of those
peculiarities of character and belief, which pervades the mass of the
people in these parts and distinguish them from the inhabitants of
the northern districts of Tinnevelly as well as from those of the
Northern Carnatic in general, many of the remarks I have to make
will refer chiefly to the Shanars; and sometimes, to avoid
circumlocution, I shall include the whole of the lower classes of
the local population under that predominating name.
The caste of Shanars occupies a middle position between
the Vellalers and their Pariar slaves. Their hereditary occupation is
that of cultivating and climbing the palmyra palm,the juice o
which they boil into a coarse sugar. This is one of the those
occupations which are restricted by Hindu usage to members of a
particular caste ; whilst agriculture and trade are open to all. T e
majority of Shanars confine themselves to the hard and weary
labour appointed to their race;but a considerable number have
become cultivators of the soil, as land owners, or farmers, or are
engaged in trade. They may in general be described as belonging
to the highest division of the lower classes, or the lowest of the
middle classes ; poor, but not paupers; rude and unlettered, but y
many degrees removed from a savage state. In the absence o
historical statements and monuments, it is impossible to gam
4
satisfactory information respecting the origin and history of the
caste. Such particulars as I have been able to ascertain were picked
up amongst the ashes of well-nigh extinct traditions.
I have met with traditions to the effect that the
Shanars are emigrants from the northern coasts of Ceylon; where
the same or a similar caste still exists, bearing a grammatical and
intelligible form of the same name," Shandrar, "of which " Shanar
"is etymologically a corruption.lt is also tolerably certain that the
Ilavers and Teers, (i.e.," Cingalese "and " Islanders,") who cultivate
the cocoanut palm in Travancore, are descendants of Shandrar
colonists from Ceylon. There are traces of a common origin
amongst them all: " Shanar," for instance, being a title of honor
amongst the Travancore Ilavers. It is stated in the traditions to
which I have alluded, that the Shanars who inhabit Tinnevelly
came from the neighbourhood of Jaffna, in Ceylon; that one portion
of them, the class now called " Nadans, " (lords of the soil)
entered Tinnevelly by way of Ramnad, bringing with them the
seed- nuts of the Jaffna palmyra, the best in the east; and
appropriating, or obtaining from, the ancient Pandya princes, (as
the most suitable region for the cultivation of the palmyra,) the
sandy waste lands of Manad in the south-east of Tinnevelly, over
which to the present day they claim rights of seignorage, and that
the other portion of the emigrants, esteemed a lower division of
the caste, came by sea to the south of Travancore, where vast
numbers of them are still found; and from whence, having but
little land of their own, they have gradually spread themselves over
Tinnevelly, on the invitation of the Nadans and other proprietors of
land; who, without the help of their poorer neighbours, as climbers,
could derive but little profit from their immense forests of
palmyra. Some of these emigrations have probably taken place since
the Christian era. And it is asserted by the Syrian Christians of
Travancore that one portion of the tribe, the Ilavers, were brought
over from Ceylon by their ancestors, for the cultivation of the
cocoanut palm. It must not, however, be supposed that any
5
tradition represents the Shanar race as being Cingalese in the
distinct sense of the term. The traditions of the Buddhistical
Cingalese seem to connect them nationally, as well as religiously,
with Behar and consequently with the Brahmanical tribes. The
Shanars, on the contrary, though probably emigrants from Ceylon,
are Hindus not of the Brahmanical, but of the Tamil or aboriginal
race; the inhabitants of the northern coast of Ceylon being
themselves Tamulians - the descendants, either of early Tamil
colonists, or of the marauding bands of Cholas who are said
repeatedly to have made irruptions into Ceylon both before and
after the Christian era.
The Shanars of Ceylon, who are considered as
forming the parent stock, now occupy a more respectable position
in the social scale than any of the off-shoots of the caste. But it is
probable that they have risen in civilization through the example
and influence of the higher castes amongst whom they live, and
that the Shanars of Tinnevelly, forming the bulk of the population
in their various settlements and having few dealings with any
other class, may be considered as retaining their original condition,
and as still representing the religious and social state of the entire
family prior to its separation and dispersion.
In describing the religious belief and moral
condition of the Shanars, and other inferior castes in Tinnevelly
connected with them or influenced by them, it is not my intention
to refer to those prejudices, passions, and practices which
characterize Shanars and Pariars in common with all unregenerate
men. They are " by nature children of wrathand have inherited
a corrupted nature " even as others :" consequently, in the love of
evil and the dislike of good, in weakness of principle and strength
of passion, we shall find the main features of their character
exemplified wherever fallen men are found. I shall restrict my
observations to those particulars in which their religious and moral
condition appear to differ from that of other classes of people in
this or other countries. "All like sheep have gone astray;" but "
6
every one," it is said " hath turned to his own way:" and some
advantage and interest may be found in considering the
characteristics of the very peculiar phase of error which obtains in
this province.
I. THE REEIGION OF THE 5HANAR5
It does not throw much light upon the Shanar
religion to describe it as a form of Hinduism. It is no doubt
equally deserving of the name with most of the religions of India ;
but as those religions are not only multiform, but mutually
opposed, the use of the common term " Hinduism " is liable to
mislead. It is true that certain general theosophic ideas are
supposed to pervade all the Hindu systems, and that theoretical
unity is said to lurk beneath practical diversity. But this
representation, though in some degree correct, is strictly applicable
only to the mystical or metaphysical systems. Practically, the Hindu
religions have few ideas and but few practices in common; and
the vast majority of their votaries would be indignant at the
supposition that their own religion, and the detested heresy of their
opponents, are after all one and the same. Be this as it may.
Missionaries have to deal, not with philosophical analogies or dead
antiquities, but with the living and active religions of the heathen
world. Their business is with the superstitions and practices of the
heathen amongst whom they live, and with the opinions and local
legends on which those superstitions are founded, according to the
statement of the people themselves. Acting on this principle.
Missionaries cannot consider Hinduism as one homogenous
religion. The term," Hinduism," like the geographical term " India
," is an European generalization unknown to the Hindus. The
Hindus themselves call their religions by the name of the
particular deity they worship, as " Siva bhakti," " Vishnu bhakti ," &
c. The only exceptions are in the case of some of the un-
Brahmanical lower classes, such as the Shanars, who, though they
7
hold a different faith, have not philosophy enough to invent a
—«•»« ■ rrrr.r
err't—r;r"r rr«** -
He abstractly probable that most of the religions of India have
ere; — ,,,i •,...«»«» ««-* *
ru d.ot.« -h»“> rr
deities whether Brahmarucal or not , are one , ' ,
id^s^obtaiiT'littte^s^npath^'
and its contrariety to rival observances. I have tho g
irt z ex xxxz xx r -
^ . tt- j r1 par pc their superstitions and.
rharacter of the various Hindu races, men f
prejudices, are every where, the same ; that the best ^
rSSrrSrr x jzzz .
XZ2X “vrS"r;r
acauainted with only one phase of Hinduism, ana v
felt some misgivings as to the result
8
Vedantist Brahmans ? Yet in Tinnevelly, amongst a population of
more than 8,00,000 souls, I think I may assert with safety that
there are not to be found eight individuals who know so much of
Vedantism as may be picked up by an European student in an
hour from the perusal of any European tractate on the subject. And
though I have no doubt but that some persons may be found in
Tinnevelly who profess the system, I have not yet myself met with,
or heard of a single person who is supposed to profess it as a
whole,much less understand it. On the other hand there are
certain facts and truths proper to Christianity, such as the doctrine
of our redemption by sacrifice, which are peculiarly offensive to
some of the Brahmanical sects, and are supposed to be offensive to
the Hindu mind every where, but which convey no offence in
Tinnevelly, where the shedding of blood in sacrifice and the
substitution of life for life are ideas with which the people are
familiar.
It is necessary to remember that many
contradictory creeds are denoted by the common term Hinduism, in
order to understand the religious condition of the lower castes in
Tinnevelly. The Shanars, though not of the Brahmanical or Sanscrit-
speaking race, are as truly Hindus as are any class in India.
Nevertheless their connection with the Brahmanical systems of
dogmas and observances, commonly described in the mass as
Hinduism, is so small that they may be considered as votaries of a
different religion. It may be true that the Brahmans have reserved
a place m their Pantheon, or Pandemonium, for local divinities and
even for aboriginal demons; but in this the policy of conquerors is
exemplified, rather than the discrimination of philosophies, or the
exclusiveness of honest believers.
I shall now endeavour to illustrate the religious
condition of the Shanars by giving some account of their creed
and observances.
9
i the shanar ideas respecting the divine being
It is not easy to determine whether it is part of their
religious system,or not,to believe that there is a God, the^creator
of all things and the ruler of the world. I think the most that can
-e said is that there are traces amongst them of a vague,
—ary belief in the —e -
"eVLirZt'unmixed, unmodified heathenism can now
" be met with amongst them. When Christians and heavens
Uve together in the same village, and the children of both classes
-tend^the same school, Christian expressions and even Chris
S — property.The
God of which Christians are accustomed to speak, are n
unfrequently transferred to the use of some heathen divinity, or
some old, indistinct abstraction; and on entering.into conv ®J s
with the more intelligent and less bigotted heathens,you
Im representing as entertained and confessed by every one
naturally, truths which they themselves orMheir
from their Christian neighbours. Hence, thoug existence o£
you meet will more or less explicitly acknowle g _ t
me supreme God and His creation and cognizance of J,
may just ly be affirmed that this acknowledgment springs‘from
"lent influence or implicit reception of the Christian truths which
have become so widely known. In just the same manner some
oL European philosophers purloin from Christianity a few
elementatary truths which man's unaided intellect never
could discover, and style them " Natural Religion.
It is useless to seek for traces of a belief in the existence
of God in the literature of the Shanars; for that if a few oggere
rhvmes deserve the name, is either of Brahmamca «ngm »
therefore foreign, or it is confined to the recital of the praises
demons,the power of incantations,and the virtues of median .
10
In searching for traces of an original belief in the
existence of God, the only information I could obtain was oun
the unprompted talk of old people ^ ^
'V°, Z «!—»»«-»» »- tlcl
Z ,fSZ»y -- •rS^^ST
■r. rs. £t- **-
tii . zzzz,
“ ££ Z -Za -» - »< = ““ * ttl „
slaying their child; and hence it may be su PP° Sed '
construction, that they consider him as ^audto^hfe. These ^
scanty facts exhibit the only traces I have m
y . r rnr i aDar t from Brahmanical legends, and th
the existence of God, apart trom introduced
influence of Christianity. Wherever Christianity has been
»*=■"—
The Shanars nominally acknowledge as deities som
0 f th e most renowned of the gods of the Brahmanical mythologres,
bu^generally speaking they know only their names, and a few
"opuTar myths in whL they figure as heroes. And with *
exception of one solitary case I have not discovered the le st
I vestige of their acquaintances with the Pan-theistic no o ,
11
; ,pular with the Tamil poets,that God is an all-pervading essence
ithout qualities or acts.
Notwithstanding their traditional use of the name of
. j fViat practically the Shanars are
?ne God, it may e ^ sser existence, and that their only real
destitute of the belief m have received from
faith is in demonolatry. The y ° n ° d/ creation of the world
others anyHis Omniscience,
or government of it y ti(jn js an en d of all strife."
except when an oath wond rous works, or of the
TKey are never heard to sp ^ ^ „ without God
glorious honor| of J ^ £uU of divine philosophy, is
; "Iretar dead matter, without a mind or a heart.
Hence, it is that when heathen Shanars come in
**»
new in their ears;but they rare]iy °PP<^ ^ ^ ^ q{ argument
CSen end/ by^ettered Native Christians in their
frequently adopteu uy S eems g0
intercourse with the hertm^w ^ the perso ns to
illogical, has some P-chc a ^°rc ^ ^ ^ ^ _ there is a
whom it is addressed. g therefore the
God and all things have beenjna e^y bgen presen t
Christian religion is t e on y heat hens seemed as much
when this argument was used, and
puzzled for a § n answer, as the Christian was triumphant.
12
2. THE SHANARS IDEAS, RESPECTING A FUTURE STATE
It sometimes happens, however inconsistently, that
eathen tribes who are ignorant of the existence of a great first
:ause, or imperfectly persuaded of His existence, believe in the life
:: the soul after death. But in the case of the Shanars I have not
observed this inconsistency. So far as I have been able to learn, it
does not appear to me that belief in the conscious existence of
every human soul after death, much less belief in a state of
rewards and punishments hereafter, forms any part of the Shanar
creed. The only thing bordering upon this belief which I have
noticed is the popular superstition upon which demonolatry is
rounded. When a person has died a sudden, untimely, or violent
death, especially if he had been remarkable for crimes or violence
of temper in his life time, it is frequently supposed that his spirit
haunts the place where his body lies, or wanders to and fro in the
neighbourhood. If this spirit were simply supposed to be the soul
or disembodied mind of the deceased, without any material
alteration in its attributes, the idea would clearly correspond with
the European superstition respecting ghosts, a superstition founded
on the Christian doctrine of the immortality of the soul. But in the
5hanar creed the annihilation of the soul or thinking principle,
when the body dies, is the general rule, and its transformation into
a ghost is only an occasional exception,limited to particular cases;
and besides, the Shanar spirit is not so much considered the ghost
of the deceased as a newly-born demon, an aerification and
amplification of the bad features of the deceased person's character
, a goblin which, with the acquisition of super-human power, has
acquired super-human malignity. This belief sometimes takes the
more Brahmanical shape of a re-animation and spiritualization of
the dead body itself by a demon; but in its purely Shanar form it
may be considered as leading to the supposition that the Shanars
originally possessed some obscure notions respecting the separate
existence of the soul after death, of which this is the only
remaining trace. They have it is true, a primitive Tamil word
12
1 „ Tr —c*
ieathen tribes who are ** believe in the life
ause, or imperfectly pe-uaded o ^ ^ ^ £ have n o
i the soul after death. But m ^ ^ been able t0 learn, >t
observed this inconsistency^ ^ ^ consdous existence of
does not appear to me th in a state of
every human soul after any par t of the Shanar
rewards and punishments here ^ ^ which I have
creed. The only thing torder11 ^ J which demonolatry is
noticed is the popular supers sudden , untimely, or violent
founded. When a person has die We for crim es or violence
death,especially if he had bee ^ supposed that his spirit
of temper in his life time, 1 wanders to and fro m th
haunts the place where is Y ' , supposed to be the sou
neighbourhood. If this s f" Ivithout any material
or disembodied mind of the clear ly correspond with
alteration in its attributes, ld superstition founded
-he European superstihon of the soul. But in the
jn the Christian doctrine soul or thinking principle,
ihanar creed the annihilation transformation into
1. «< w <««'“ ‘“jXSSSld« v***
a ghost is only an occasional ex ^ ^ ^ considered the ghost
and besides, the Shanar spin ^ aerification and
of the deceased as a newW-born d ^ perso n's character
amplification of the bad e q£ super -human power, has
a goblin which, with * e acc l belie f sometimes takes the
acquired super-human ma ,g ™^' imatio n and spiritualization of
more Brahmanical shape of a r-a pu rely Shanar form it
the dead body itself by supposition that theShanars
may be considered as notions respecting the separate
originally possessed son* ^ this is the only
exis tence of the sou ^ . g ttue , a primitive Tamil wor
remaining trace. y
i
13
denoting " a spirit " or ghost; but the word which denotes the soul
according to the Christian or philosophical meaning of the term, is
a Sanscrit one, belonging consequently to the terminology of a
different religion; and that word is little if at all used or known,
except by those who are familiar with the phraseology adopted by
Christians.
Through the prevalence of Brahmanical ideas and rites
amongst the higher classes of the Tamil people, and the partial
imitation of the usages of those classes by the wealthier Shanars,a
:ew things are occasionally observed which might be mistaken for
races of a belief in the immortality of the soul. For instance, the
ceremonies performed in behalf of the dead are connected with the
relief in their continued existence. But such ceremonies are
rerformed only by a few of the more aspiring Shanars, who like to
iritate the manners of the higher castes; and the Brahmanical
rr.ebn of the ceremonies themselves is historically known. Again,
some of the wealthier and more educated Shanars may appear to
hold the Brahmanical doctrine of the transmigration of souls; but
their belief in it is merely nominal, and only exhibited in half-
f amest. For instance, when a man is about to utter an enormous
Be he will say with a knowing look," if what I am going to tell
Ire not true, may I be born a maggot ." The belief goes no further;
ir d expressions of this kind are not heard amongst the mass of
."changed, unsophisticated Shanars, whose ideas of the existence
of the soul after death have not taken even so crude a shape. In
so far, therefore, as the psychology of the Shanars can be
ii-rertained, it may be asserted as their opinion that in all ordinary
cases when a man dies, he has ceased to be ; there is an end of
775 hopes and fears; and every thing that he was is dissipated in
the smoke of his incremation, or resolved into the earth in which is
laid.
The consequence of obliterating the doctrine of a future
~:a:e from the creed of reducing man to a merely material
::ndition, and precluding the belief of his being called to account
14
r his actions hereafter, may readily be conceived by the Christian
~^*00ci
So common and so deeply rooted amongst the Shanars
^“s^ ot^s in the way of their sincere
-eception and consistent profession of Christianity, andthengrowth
* L ce; and not unfrequently ; when their fatth ts trred by some
unusual disappointment or calamity,and found wanting, tfu
hereditary materialism proves the cause of their relapse mto
iemonolatry. To every consoling argument they mutter m repy,
who has seen heaven ? who has seen he .
15
3. THE SHANAR WORSHIP OF DEVILS
. . i _£ Shanars has appeared to be a
Ta'desert in which no trace of religious ideas is found.
When Missionaries allude to the de ^ w “ 5 ^ devi)s
T mnevelly, some persons "suppose^ ; ^ ^ ^
we mean the gods wors ipp e d to have been the
-~ em " devils ” because '^e'heathen world. It is thought that
inventors of the religions have known our
we use the term in a controvert se "^ ed int0 an
-se of it attributed to religious rancou^ ^ ^ that in describing
-tentional insult to ^ h f°u^ on of the Shanars as devil-worship,
,-e positive portion o J ^ one we know, but
-■« word used is Y the ghanars
* exactly corresponds wi* the^ ^ existence of G od,they
remselves. In so far as y S and as t h e re are some
t0 “Ictefof most of the Brahmanical deities,
^^rjm also good spinor *
■shinned by themselves and their forefathers are
ershipped y _ bona fide fiends; and it is
'=* ° c £ be n n cessary to worship them simply and solely
. opposed to be necess y t) demon olatry, or devil-
because they are malignant q ^ of the Shana rs can
: rship, is the only term y w , ^ ma y have in
re accurately described. Whatever belief ^of them^
- - f existence of God, they appear ^brahmanical
i -s not need to be appeased; and even such^o ^
ce.ties as have obtained a pace m c liment of a passing
--erely with an annual festiva an different temper,
-ow But their own devils, being spirits of a ve^
-us, watchful, and Specially
earnestness and assiduity of a real beliet.
16
more wealthy of them,have no objection to be considered
. rshippers of the gods of the Brahmans on high days and
- lavs. The worship of Subrahmanya, the second son of Siva,
-a-.mg been popular in Peninsular India, from an early period, the
nritv of the Shanars symbolize with the higher castes by
— ling the annual festival to his honor at Trichendoor, Shasta
afao the Hari-hara-putra of the Brahmans,and rather a demon-king
tfcan a divinity, being guardian of boundaries and protector of
piddy fields, is worshipped to a considerable extent in his officia
relations. But in those extensive tracts of country where the Shanars
- the bulk of the population, and the cultivation of the pa myra
s the ordinary employment of the people, the Brahmanical deities
rarelv receive any notice; and the appearance on the foreheads o
n few of the more devout, or of the wealthier class, of a streak of
ashes, the distinctive mark of Sivism, is the only trace or sign
: me influence of legitimate Brahmanism which one can see.
T - monism in one shape or another may be said to rule the
- -mars with undisputed authority. The worship of their own
c-irons forms the religion not of a passing holiday only,but of
- T . e very-day life;and is that which governs their minds,sways
- - wills, and influences their character, and to which they
- ariably flee in sickness and loss.
A few of the demons are forms of Cali, connected
-a debased and comparatively modem development of the
Brahmanical system itself; and, as such, they are known by
different name," Ammen," or mother, and their worship is marked
- iome distinctive peculiarities. It is performed not by every one
no pleases ,as devil-worship is,but by a particular class of
Soodra priests. A large majority however of the devils are o
F irely Shanar or Tamil origin, and totally unconnected with
rrihinanism.
I shall now mention some particulars illustrative of the
-pinions entertained respecting these demons and the peculiarities
:,f their worship, as it exists at present. I shall not attempt to enter
17
. 7 : r a minute description of the system, or exemplify it by
ioedfic illustrations; but shall confine myself to the more general
~ rTt of furnishing the reader with a sketch of its salient points
me more prominent characteristics, and helping him to form an
- 7 mate of its tendencies and effects. My description will therefore
icclv rather to the genus
■ iemon" than to any demon in particular - rather to the points in
r. ch all diabolical rites agree than to local or incidental varieties.
As has already been mentioned, the majority of the
ievils are supposed to have originally been human beings; and the
of persons most frequently supposed to have been
lea " Stormed into devils are those who had met with a sudden or
v -mt death, especially if they had made themselves dreaded in
t* _r life time. Devils may in consequence be either male or female,
< aw or high caste, of Hindu or foreign lineage . Their character
and mode of life seem to be little if at all modified by differences
r this nature. All are powerful, malicious and interfering; and all
are desirous of bloody sacrifices and frantic dances. The only
c rerences apparent are in the structure of the temple or image
- : to their honor, the insignia worn by their priests, the minutiae
< : the ceremonies observed in their worship, the preference of the
isa rrifice of a goat by one, a hog by another, and a cock by a
r rd,or in the addition of libations or ardent spirits for which
~ - liar demons stipulate. As for their abode, the majority of the
5evils are supposed to dwell in trees; some wander to and fro,
i" d go up and down, in uninhabited wastes; some skulk in shady
rreats. Sometimes they take up their abode in houses ; and it
: ;:fn happens that a devil will take a fancy to dispossess the soul
"d inhabit the body of one of his votaries; in which case the
r ersonal consciousness of the possessed party ceases, and the
^reaming, gesticulating, and pythonizing are supposed to be the
lemon's acts.
Every malady however trivial is supposed by the more
; _ perstitions to be inflicted by a devil, and a sacrifice is necessary
18
n ts removal; but the unusual severity or continuance of any
■ - ise, or the appearance of symptoms which are not recorded in
physician's shastra are proofs of possession of which no Shanar
; . entertain any doubt. The medical science of so rude a people
reing very extensive, cases of unquestionable possession are of
- ; _ ; nt occurrence. When a woman is heard to laugh and weep
t , -^telv, without any adequate cause, or shriek and look wild
„ no snake or wild beast can be perceived, what Shanar can
. --cse anything but a devil to be the cause of the mischief? The
: - e doctor, himself a Shanar,is sent for to give his advice.He
nr-R his library with him,(he can't read,but it is all safe in his
- -on-,) - his " complete science of medicine in one hundred
sards', as revealed by the sage Agastya to his disciple Pulastya;
in vain he recites his prescriptions, in vain he coins hard
- is. As no description of hysterical complaints is contained in
. iuthorities, what can he do but decide that a devil has taken
- -ession of the woman, and recommend that a sacrifice be
■ ,red to him forthwith, with a cloth and a white fowl to the
: rtor? Sometimes the possession takes the shape of a stroke o
r e sun, epilepsy or catalepsy, a sudden fright, mania, or the
-so and stupor caused by an overflow of bile. But any ordinary
-sase, when it seems incurable, and the patient begins to waste
iy, is pronounced a possession.
Sometimes the friends are not desirous of expelling the
. spirit all at once, but send for music, get up a devil-dance, and
, upon the demon to prophesy. This is particularly the case when
some member of the family has long been sick, and they are
anxious to know what is to be the result of the sickness, and are
shing and waiting for a demon's visit.
If they desire to expel the devil,there is no lack of
r nving ceremonies and powerful incantations, each of which has
: tried and found successful innumerable times. If the devil
should prove an obstinate one and refuse to leave, charm they
-ever so wisely,his retreat may generally be hastened by the
.gorous application of a slipper or a broom to the Jouldersrf
he possessed person, the operator taking the
time the most scurrilous language he can tlunk C M t
;emoniae loses his downcast, sullen look. He begm J5 g
md writhe about under the slippering, and at le g ^ ^ ^
30" The y then ,; Sk H hI- whom Ihey have neglected ever
-em he is such and himself by the name
■ eaV6 '^“ 8 rdefor n a d sacrifice, as a compensation to his
X“igno.n y of the —
- w awakes as from a sleep, and appears to tia
any thing that has happened.
These possessions arenot restricted to
-ave met with several cases amongst persons w st
rlaced themselves under Christian ^JZLry
-ahve Christians of h Shanars,were
rmptoms of possession, as recognize ^ experience o£ moS t
| developed. This correspon , re , atives in such cases do not
:: the Missionaries in Tmnevel y. rcise the demon in the
dunk themselves at liberty to attempt ‘° etimes been sent
usual way. Accordingly the Missionanes have have
- terfered, have generally succeeded to the peop
I ell as to their own. Some of *e possession^^^ the
—oral influences and alternatives; but in the ma,onty
I -tost effectual exorcism is - tartar emetic.
I do not say that real demoniacal possessions never
I -ccur in heathen countries. Where Satan rules " °J*T ^
.d where belief in the reality and^u^of P =
I delusions generally include a fact.
20
Bfc imrc 5 perfectly open to receive evidence on the subject; and
Min ■ the number of astonishing cases that almost every
Var‘ e says he has been told of by those who have seen them, I
feme hoped some day to witness something of the kind myself. But
[ have not yet had an opportunity of being present where
IjBBetematural symptoms were exhibited; though I have sought for
|pK3i it. :rportunity for nearly twelve years,the greater part of
■hr acne in a devil-worshipping community. This is the experience,
«r sar as I have heard, of all British and American Missionaries with
'■hr exception of one dubious case. Our German brethren seem to
Iftn r been more fortunate.
The demons especially show their power in cases
m : -' - ssion; but they are frequently contented with inflicting
macr injuries. Not only the failure of rain, or a blight falling on
reps but even the accidents and diseases which befall cattle,
i tr i — ial losses in trade, are considered instances of a devil's
iru : : ence. Sometimes, again, demons are content with frightening
tr e i mid, without doing any real harm. People hear a strange noise
a night ; and immediately they see a devil making his escape in
■fee shape of a dog as large as a hyena, or a cat with eyes like
t« Lamps. In the dusk of the evening devils have been observed
im i burial or burning ground, assuming various shapes one after
■mother as often as the eye of the observer is turned away ; and
t* have often been known at night to ride across the country on
- ?:ble horses, or glide over marshy lands in the shape of a
wi-dering, flickering light. In all their journeyings they move along
i rout touching the ground; their elevation above the ground
reirg proportioned to their rank and importance. I have known a
.:ge deserted and the people afraid even to remove the
materials of their houses, in consequence of the terror caused by
stones being thrown on their roofs at night by invisible hands.
I -mons more malicious still have sometimes been known under
rover of the night to insert combustible materials under the eaves
: matched roofs. Even in the day time, about the close of the hot
21
■ A fail they may often be seen careering along
season, when the winds fail, Y Y ^ whisking about in
in the shape of a whirl-wmd c^g J ^ * lie in
-heir fierce play every ry n0 goo d. They
Mr *«*•»' ;””»“«>«■» -»
often cause terror but n placated by sacrifice
affection for their votaries. They must ^ ^ ^ supplicatmg
because they are so h obtai ning a benefit seem to
matter of course. lower dasses , regard
Though the Natives, espec y p ea ns have no reason
the demons with dread, they t • * sometim es made in the case of
to fear; and a similar excep tbe Mahomedans is
the Mahomedans. The go wo PP demons an d able to
supposed to be more As for Europeans, no
rrotect his worshippers protection. On the
one considers that they require any tod ^ P ^ ^
principle enunciated by Bjto , against Israe l," the
against Jacob ; neit er 1S Europ ean Christians as secure rom
demonolaters seem to cons.d than a match for any of
danger. They suppose them ence 0 f this immunity,
the poor black man s rf an European are exposed to
i whilst the servants an gees nor hea rs any thing
I many alarms, their mas er n ^ ^ which the Natives
I unusual. I have heard of on y tQ ^ rule o£ n on-
I supposed that an exception was about to build his
I interference with Europeans. A M * ^ ^ ^ wlth a
1 house near a place where a ^ and at thiS/ it was said the
I violent death-had taken up ‘ ' a heavy shower of rain
I devil was highly displeased. Ev_ J ^ m onsoon,) it was
I endeavouring to destroy the work.
22
And SUre enou gh, the neighbours saw that a great deal of damage
done by the rain, and that a great deal of the work was
destroyed. They saw however, that the Missionary, nothing daunted,
rjilt up a ? ain what had fallen,and at length finished his house;
* hereupon they came to the old conclusion that no demon could
rc with an European; and ere long gave it out that the demon
- question had removed his residence in disgust to another tree.
In most of the particulars mentioned a similar
superstition respecting goblins and demons will be found to exist all
rr India. Every Hindu work containing allusions to Native life,
** the Dicti onaries of all the Hindu dialects, prove the general 7
prevalence of a belief in the existence of malicious or mischievous
lemons in demoniacal inflictions and possessions, and in the power
exorcisms. The chief peculiarity of the superstition, as it exists
rr.gst the Shanars, consists in their systematic worship of the
: .mons in which all believe. In every part of India innumerable
~- r -r.ds respecting goblins and their malice are current; but
warcely any trace of their worship in the proper sense of the term,
mich less of their exclusive worship, can be discovered beyond the
-_53icts in which Shanars, or other primitive illiterate tribes; are
md ' In travelling down toTinnevelly from the north, the first
i tilage which is found to be inhabited by Shanars, Virdupatty,
-out 30 miles south of Madura, is the first place where I have
: served systematic devil-worship. In like manners, in Travancore,
: oil-worship appears to commence with the first appearance of
- -: Shanar caste in the neighbourhood of Trivandrum; from
ence lt becomes more and more prevalent as you approach
Comorin. This superstition respecting demons, in whatever
-m and under whatever modifications it may appear is come to
Productive of evil; but it was reserved for the Shanars, and a
: . other ^literate tribes to exemplify the debasing effect of it in
extent h Y their worship of demons, a degradation beneath
* human mind cannot descend.
23
The places in which the demons are worshipped are
commonly termed " Pe coils " or " devil temples " ; but let no one
suppose from the use of the word "temple" that the building
possesses any architectural pretensions, or inquire to what order or
style it belongs. Some of the temples, especially those erected to the
sanguinary forms of Cali are small, mean, tomblike buildings, with
an image at the further end of the cloister. But the majority of the
devil-temples are of a still more primitive construction. The walls
are built neither with stone nor brick; the roof is neither terraced
nor tiled nor even thatched ; and they have neither porches nor
renetralia. A heap of earth raised into a pyramidical shape and
adorned with streaks of white-wash, sometimes alternating with
red ochre, constitutes, in the majority of cases, both the temple an
the demon's image ; and a smaller heap in front of the temple
with a flat surface forms the altar. In such cases a large
conspicuous tree - a tamarind, an umbrella tree, or even a palmyra
whose leaves have never been cut or trimmed-will generally be
observed in the vicinity. This tree is supposed to be the devil's
ordinary dwelling place, from which he snuffs up the odour of the
sacrificial blood and descends unseen to join in the feast. The devi-
pyramid is sometimes built of brick and stuccoed over ; and when
thus built of coherent materials it rises into something of the s ape
of an obelisk. So far as I have seen, the angles of the pyramid are
made to correspond with the cardinal points. Its height rarely
exceeds eight feet and is generally less than five. Thispyramida
obelisk is a distinguishing characteristic of devil-worship, and
arrears to have no counterpart in Brahmanism or any other ism m
India. I have often wished to discover what was supposed to be
e-.gnified by this peculiar style of image; but never met with any
me who could give me any information.
Sometimes the worshippers go to the expense of
building walls and a roof for the permanent accommodation of
their demon, with a porch for the musicians. The devil in this case
reing of Brahmanical lineage, they generally erect an image to is
24
- nor, in imitation of their Brahmanical neighbours. Such images
generally accord with those monstrous figures with which all over
-;:a orthodox Hindus depict the enemies of gods, or the terrific
—£ of Siva or Durga. They are generally made of earthen-ware,
ranted white to look horrible in Hindu eyes; with numerous up-
sed hands and instruments of torture and death in each, and the
■presentation of infants crushed between their teeth; or with
- .ralo-heads and huge prickly clubs. In every such case the artist
- -rows his realization of the fiend's character from images
- nted and patronized by the meek Brahmans themselves. In the
V. rrship of the aboriginal Shanar devils, the pyramid I have
- -tioned is the nearest approach to an image which I have
(reserved. It is worthy of remark that every word which denotes an
- a re is of Sanscrit origin, and as such, must have been introduced
- the Brahmans.
When it is determined to offer a sacrifice to a devil a
:son is appointed to act the part of a priest. Devil-worship is not
ike the worship of the deities, whether supreme or subordinate,
. r rropriated to a particular order of men, but may be performed
- Dne who chooses. This priest is styled a " devil - dancer."
_ - nally one of the principal men of the village officiates; but
- metimes the duty is voluntarily undertaken by some devotee,
xale or female, who wishes to gain notoriety, or in whom the sight
c - the preparations excites a sudden zeal. The officiating priest,
- oever he may happen to be, is dressed for the occasion in the
sonents and ornaments appropriate to the particular devil
: rshipped. The object in view in donning the demon's insignia is
strike terror into the imagination of the beholders. But the party-
: oured dress and grotesque ornaments, the cap and trident and
ogling bells of the performer, bear so close a resemblance to the
-sual adjuncts of a pantomime that an European would find it
difficult to look grave. The musical instruments, or rather the
r struments of noise, chiefly used in the devil-dance are the tom-
:: m, or ordinary Indian drum, and the horn; with occasionally the
25
addition of a clarionet when the parties can afford it. But the
§i ;rite instrument,because the noisiest,is that which is called the
A series of bells of various sizes is fastened to the frame of a
- r antic bow; the strings are tightened so as to emit a musical
a*xe when struck; and the bow rests on a large empty brazen pot.
-- e instrument is played on by a plectrum, and several musicians
, in the performance. One strikes the string of the bow with the
- edrurn, another produces the base by striking the brazen pot
„ his hand, and the third keeps time and improves the harmony
1* i pair of cymbals. As each musician kindles in his work and
— -es to outstrip his neighbour in the rapidity of his flourishes,
arvi in the loudness of the tone with which he sings the
j*x :mpaniments, the result is a tumult of frightful sounds, such as
— 2 " be supposed to delight even a demons ear.
When the preparations are completed and the devil-
iir.ze is about to commence, the music is at first comparatively
and the dancer seems impassive and sullen and either he
-ris still, or moves about in gloomy silence. Gradually, as the
— _ - becomes quicker and louder, his excitement begins to rise.
Sccr.etimes to help him to work himself up into a frenzy he uses
abdicated draughts, eats and lacerates his flesh till the blood
s, lashes himself with a huge whip, presses a burning torch to
K - breast, drinks the blood which flows from his own wounds, or
c rl<s the blood of the sacrifice, putting the throat of the
decapitated goat to his mouth. Then, as if he had acquired new
It- he begins to brandish his staff of bells and dance with a quick
, rut wild, unsteady step. Suddenly the afflatus descends. There is no
-.staking that glare, or those frantic leaps. He snorts; he stares;he
: rates. The demon has now taken bodily possession of him ; and
; ugh he retains the power of utterance and of motion, both are
_-ier the demon's control, and his separate consciousness is in
advance. The by-standers signalize the event by raising a long
shout attended with a peculiar vibratory noise, caused by the
action of the hand and tongue, or the tongue alone. The devil-
26
.lancer is now worshipped as a present deity, and every by-stander
consults him respecting his disease, his wants, the welfare of his
a rsent relatives, the offerings to be made for the accomplishment
:: his wishes, and, in short, every thing for which superhuman
knowledge is supposed to be available. As the devil-dancer acts to
"" miration the part of a maniac, it requires some experience to
. able a person to interpret his dubious or unmeaning replies-his
' uttered voices and uncouth gestures; but the wishes of the
rarties who consult him help them greatly to interpret his
meaning.
Sometimes the devil-dance and the demoniacal
nruoyance are extemporized, especially where the mass of the
reople are peculiarly addicted to devil-worship, and perfectly
umuliar with the various stages of the process. In such cases,if a
nerson happen to feel the commencement of the shivering fit of an
- -ue or the vertigo of a bilious headache, his untutored
-agination teaches him to think himself possessed. He then sways
“ head from Slde to side,fixes his eyes into a stare,puts himself
unto a posture, and begins the maniac dance; and the by-standers
- :or flowers and fruit for an offering, or a cock or goat to
-iurifice to his honor.
The night is the time usually devoted to the orgies of
^evil-dancing. And as the number of devils worshipped is in some
- 'tr.as equal to the number of the worshippers, and as every act
: worship is accompanied with the monotonous din of drums and
<e bray of horns, the stillness of the night, especially during the
prevalence of Cholera or any other epidemical disease, is frequently
ken by a dismal uproar, more painful to hear on account of the
issociations connected with it, than on account of its unpleasant
~::ect on the ear and nerves.
I have so often made inquiries on this and kindred
subjects, and so often heard these scenes described by those who
■ a: formerly taken part in them, that the account I have given.
27
2.‘ing allowance for local diversities, is I am sure substantially
i rrect. But I have not myself witnessed these orgies, except from a
: stance; nor is it always practicable to gain a near view of them,
: the presence of an European, by which term is meant in these
r : f a Missionary, is supposed to be a hindrance to the
performance of the worship. If a Missionary approach, the dancing
r -:2r:.y ceases, and the demon cannot be prevailed upon to show
Itirriself. This may partly arise from the idea already referred to, that
“e -evil's power is inferior to that of the white man; but it is
aps mainly the result of an intuitive feeling of shame, or, in
" ~ - -distances of the wish to behave politely to a person whom
respect and who is known to regard their worship with
jcrorrence.
( 2.) THE OFFERING OF BLOODY SACRIFICES
One of the most important parts of the system of devil-
* is the offering of goats, sheep, fowls & c. in sacrifice, for
r . purpose of appeasing the anger of the demons and inducing
r to remove the calamities they have inflicted, or abstain from
Diilicting the calamities which they are supposed to have
fcreatened. This is one of the most striking points of difference
een the demonolatrous system and Brahmanism. It points to a
antiquity; and, though now connected with a base
superstition, is more capable of guiding the mind to the reception
a ^uistiarnty than any thing which Brahmanism contains.
There is nothing very peculiar in the manner in which the
sacruice is performed.
Hie animal which is to be offered in sacrifice is led to the
: :- r of the devil-temple adorned with red ochre and garlands of
28
Ordinarily its had is separated from the body by a single
«cr> r of a bill-hook; the sacrifice being considered unacceptable to
n : e —ion if more than one blow is required. The decapitated
>>: .5 then held up so that all the blood it contains may flow
pifcf _ron the demon's altar. The sacrifice being now completed the
■Beal is cut up on the spot,made into curry, and,with the
.:: - n of the boiled rice and fruit offered to the demon on the
name xcasion, forms a sacred meal of which all who have joined
B ihe sacrifice receives a share.
The sole object of the sacrifice is the removal of the
fm 5 anger or of the calamities which his anger brings down. It
A _ i be distinctly understood that sacrifices are never offered on
■ _r.t of the sins of the worshippers, and that the devil's anger
B r:: excited by any moral offence. The religion of the Shanars,
wacr. as it is, has no connection with morals. The most common
zm eve in sacrificing to the devil is that of obtaining relief in
Bo ess; and in that case at least the rationale of the rite is
p: r- : entlv clear. It consists in offering the demon, life for life --
Ifaod for blood. The demon thirsts for the life of his votary or,
- that of his child ; and by a little ceremony and show of
gsp ect a little music and a little coaxing, he may be prevailed
uccr to be content with the life of a goat instead. Accordingly a
:s sacrificed; its blood is poured out upon the demon's altar,
■n d -.he offerer goes free.
The Shanars have not intellect enough to frame for
t - “selves a theory of substitution; but their practice and their
mode of expression prove that they consider their sacrifices as
substitutions and nothing else. And there is abundant reason to
bebeve that at a former period the doctrine of substitution was
2rr*ed out to the extent of offering human sacrifices to the
: t t : ns — a practice systematically followed to the present day by
j bonds, the most primitive and least Brahmanized portion of
rue aboriginal Tamil race.
29
From the particulars now mentioned it is sufficiently obvio
if in some things the Shanars are farther than other Hindus
- - Christianity; they are in a better position for understanding
-and Christian doctrine of redemption by sacrifice. It is (rue
- . - - re place of the supreme God is supplied by blood-thirsty
Bo* and that with the rite of sacrifice confession of guilt is no
ELd.No trace remains of the fate of the victim having been
« I. rered a symbol of what the offerer himself deserved, nor
CLqoently is there any trace of the idea of the remova of sin
v • -* sacrifice of the substitute ; and of course sacrificial rites are
~ supposed to point to a sacrifice of greater efficacy beyond.
K-- -rtheles, the fact of the prevalence of bloody sacrifices for t e
L* aval of the anger of superior powers is one of the most
Elgin the religious condition of the Shanars, and is appealed
[ - :h e Christian Missionary with the best effect. The primitive
. Ldition is sadly distorted, but some portion of it still remains to
fees* witness to the truth.
With the extension of Christianity devil-worship is
Lhv declining; and the diminution of offerings and influence
< --^ted with the declension of their worship is supposed to
[ Ue given the demons such offence that they are now less
,:able than formerly. I have heard a Shanar naive y comp ai
toaTin his youth people could keep the Cholera out of their
■ >res,but that now,the Christian religion has prevailed to sue
extent that it is scarcely possible even to keep the devils in
so that the mortality from Cholera has greatly increased.
J. -twithstanding this complaint, devil-worship in many dlstrlcts 0
r i country is as rampant as ever; and it must be confessed that
-- amongst the Christian community it has not entire y
; irreared. A large number of the people commonly called
’Christians" are still unbaptized ; and of those who are baptized
, considerable proportion, as in every other community, are
- -ritute of real principle and faith. It is obvious that the
-i—onolatrv in which they were brought up cannot be eradicated
30
■ am thing less powerful that a sincere belief in Christianity and
, - -dcipation in the" spirit of power, of love, and of a soun
r which a sincere belief communicates. Consequently, then
:encv to mix up sacrifices to devils m times of prosperity
e a cause of no little conflict and disquiet in the days of th
L ec multitude " who compose the first generation o conver s^
CL of this class of persons it is considered a wise policy to p
t lod terms with both God and the devil; and when disease is
Id- id, if a goat given in sacrifice, (particularly if it can^ be offer
L OTetly as that neither Missionary nor Catechist shall know
C ) will have the effect of pacifying the devil the and
I out of the house,what prudent man would grudge thed
I Z sacrifice of a goat ? The principle involved herein is
rsdered to be the same as that on which they act m subsid g
Maravers - the hereditary thieves of the district. No one
Lts iers this an offence against the civil magistrate. Far from
■ -dering it an offence,the magistrate himself sanctions e
■a -rice. Why then, think they,should it be considered an o££en
. -t God to pay an occasional subsidy to keep the devils qumt.
„ —lese remarks it should be remembered that I refer not toth
Leve Christians of Tinnevelly in a body, nor even to the ma) ty
r neophytes, but to the daily-diminishing minority o e
. ~ r -.ncipled and uneducated.
The demonolatrous creed I have now described
L - s in India more extensively, and has probably existed from
Li cher antiquity,than is generally imagined.With some vana ons
ir; ■ - found in all the hill regions and amongst all the se ™ <lvl£lZ
L migratory tribes who have not yet been enslaved by the higher
. . and completely subjugated to Brahmanism; an P revaI ®
r ,- re or less among the lower classes throughout India espec y
* allied with the worship of the female forms of Siva. In its mos
rrcritive shape,never superseded and scarcely at a m ° ‘ ie '
■—« .as has been said,the creed of the greater part of Tinnevely
, of the Tamil portion of Travancore , wherever Shanars
31
—dominate. In all the Mission stations in Tinnevelly and sout
ancore the Native Christians,with here and there a rare
. ration,were once worshippers of devils.
The Brahmans, and some of the higher castes who
L e adopted their prejudices, profess to despise both the devils
i_- d their worship , and even the worship of the Ammens, and
m old reckon it an insult to be considered capable of
«-descending to worship a low caste demon.But in times o
c j-utv Brahmans do not hesitate to worship the Ammens; and
I- e even been accused of making offerings to demons,by stealth,
P --rough the mediation of persons of a lower caste.
Emigrants from the Telugu country, who form a
ierable portion of the population in some parts of Tinnevelly,
e generally become worshippers of devils. But the system more
* Civ followed by this class is the worship of the satellites of t e
:- —.anical deities,or that of the female Energies.Such devils,in
-ce rroper sense of the term, as they are found to worship are o
|rl~ origin,as their names denote,and were probably
■ shipped at first from a wish to conciliate the gods of the soil.
—-IP ORIGIN OF THE SHANAR DEMONOLATRY lies m the
L.-depths of antiquity, an antiquity apparently equal to that
L worship of the elements or the heavenly bodies. If the
L^ ons contained in the Vedas to the victories gained by the
, er.entarv deities over hostile fiends be considered a mythic
r-mentation of historical facts, the worship of devils would seem
L' -Ive been anterior to the Vedaic system itself. Of elementary
[ -v_-up there is no trace whatever in the history , language, or
La ,-es of any portion of the Tamil people. The emigration of the
B -. -mans to Peninsular India appears, consequently, to have been
equent to the first great change in their religious system e
Eon they introduced was probably a rudimental form of Sivism
a tendency to the mystical and mythological systems of t e
- ras. There is not the least reason to suppose that the Ve aic
32
or elementary system was ever known in the Tamil country, ei er
as an indigenous religion,or as introduced by the Brahmans.
Brahmans were doubtless the civilizers of the Tamil people; an
the traditional leader of the their migration, Agastya, is said to
have reduced the Tamil language to order and to have given it a
Grammar, yet not one of the old Tamil names of the elements, the
heavenly bodies, or the operations of nature is masculine or
feminine,as they are in Sanscrit,in accordance with the elementary
doctrines of the Vedas; and there is not the least trace of the
elements, or powers of nature, having at any time been considere
as personal intelligence.
The inventors of both the Vedaic and the
iemonolatrous systems seem to have been equally destitute of
moral sentiments. Each adored power not goodness, operations no
_rtues;but whilst the former deified the operations of nature, the
itter demonized the powers of heaven.
It appears very improbable that demonolatry originated in
-v form of Brahmanism. It may be true that from time to time
-recially after the lapse of elementary worship into mysticism and
- hero-worship into terrorism,a few Brahmanical ideas have been
| • - ied to the demonolatry of the Shanars. A few of the demons
L bo were formerly independent may have been tamed and taken
the service of the petty divinities; or a particular devilmay
ta represented as having formerly been a god and degrade to
nrk of a demon for refusing to pay due worship to some
■ -erior deity. Or, the Brahmans who civilized the peninsula, in
. : -ointing to every class its specific objects and modes of worship
biv have sanctioned the appropriation of certain local gob ms
L- ' demons to the worship of the vile, aboriginal populace. But
fee facts, far from accounting for the origin of demonolatry, ta e
L rrevious existence for granted ; and there are many irec
Ltons for assigning to demonolatry an origin mdepen ent o
£ . ranism and anterior to its introduction into the Tamil country,
#
m - ,en into India.
33
(1.) In all Brahmanical myths the demons are
represented as being the ancient enemies of the gods, as warring
i gainst the gods, and sometimes gaining the upper-hand, and as
-j-e inventors and special patrons of bloody sacrifices. Every new
reity gains prodigious victories over the demons; and yet somehow
they never are thoroughly conquered. This style of representation is
-consistent with the idea that demonolatry is an off shoot of
3 rahmanism; but will perfectly accord with the supposition that
before the influx of the Brahmans from central Asia demonolatry
as the religion of the early Tamil inhabitants of India, and that
ne Brahmans on their arrival labored in vain to extirpate it.
(2) In all Brahmanical books and legends in which the state
r: the original inhabitants of Peninsular India is described,we are
--erred to a period when demons ruled in the primeval jungles,
2nd when those jungles were inhabited solely by vile sinners who
ate flesh and offered bloody sacrifices. Contemporaneously with that
reriod the sacred Brahmanical race, and all connected with it down
- : its servile tribes, were represented as invariably worshipping the
superior gods , and most commonly using unbloody rites. In like
-anner the Buddhist represent Ceylon prior to the advent of
: cidhism as having been overrun with serpent gods and demons.
( *- Every word used in the Tamil country relative to the
: rahmanical religions, the names of the gods , and the words
ipplicable to their worship, belong to the Sanscrit, the Brahmanical
tongue; whilst the names of the demons worshipped by the
5 - mars in the south, the common term for devil, and the
% mo us words used with reference to devil-worship are as
uniformly Tamil. Just so in Western Africa, Mahomedan terms
>; :r.c to the Arabic, whilst aboriginal Fetishism uses the native
-cues. In a few cases in which the name of the Shanar demon is
SmLrit, the facts of the affinity of its worship with the sanguinary
-ship of Siva or Cali, and its late introduction into the Tamil
34
• fVio raSG of M&ri"
« distoCtly "u"xl" e a-Cali of Ougein, the
"let ofr—logy of devil-worship
- 2 goddess. The fac ^ min d a tolera bly
rarely Tamil throug system. With
*. *•
ce to the social state o enable any one to
of the words in common use civilizers °f
fc«mune what was introduced 1 y ^ arrival. All words
T t msular India, and what tef ineme nt , aU that relate
- ...... to science, literature and ment^ rel i gio n,
• jr. advanced civilization, an ^ language of the
Lsoul,and the invisible world,a ^ ordinary arts of life,
fc^mans; whilst all words that r of a rude and
*e race of nature,the wants fed manner the wo rds used
■res-, a savage people, aie Tiim . lusiv ely Tamil,we are
-h reference to devil-worship being - J qulty , and refer its
I T "'
v that there is not any priestly order
14 It is worthy of rem£ V Every ac t of Brahmanical worship
oted to the worship of devi ^ rf the inferior deities
jecnires a priest; and evenm ^ ^ Brahmanica l emanations and
Kki in the sanguinary wo opp osed to the claims of the
..-.mens, (systems of ‘ influence d by their example
Brahmans, but to a const e ^ ^ exclus ively devoted to the
) me persons who offici 0n the contrary every
iutv and a member of a priest . No t unfrequently
.-;l-worshipper is , or ma >' ' g villa g e ; but he maybe
be head-man acts as pries voluntary devotee, male or
--^s £ ;::r—s z *-*—— to the
— ale. This pan times.
- -nation Of the system m very early
35
( 5 .) It is scarcely credible that the practice of offering bloody
sacrifices to malignant demons should have originated with
believers in either the Vedas or the “ Orthodox " Puranas. The
comparatively recent origin of the ascetical worship of Siva and of
*jie sanguinary worship of Durga is generally conceded ; and both
:he theory on which those rites are founded and the practices
"emselves are foreign to the genius of legitimate Brahmanism and
*: the teaching of the entire circle of the philosophic schools. The
- ,premacy of the Brahmans has always been directly attacked and
■eir services set aside by the inventors and patrons of those
l ir.guinary rites, who have in general been Sudras, and have
ended priesthoods and successions of Gurus in their own caste to
-re exclusion of the Brahmans. It is also to be remembered that in
i hatever degree sanguinary rites may be practised by any portion
the Hindus, in any part of India, they are directly opposed, not
'sT’
||ir— f" ctr ether
of the immense majority of the more cultivated Hindus and
- rher castes. So extensively indeed have Brahmanical
^les prevailed, and so express has ever been their opposition
sar quinary rites, especially since the influence of Buddhism
to be felt, that in every part of India, Hindus who consider
dves par excellence orthodox regard the inviolability of life as
- ost sacred of laws. It would appear, therefore, that in so far
e Hindus of the higher castes have attributed to any of the
deal deities a two-fold character - one a character of mercy,
the other a cruel, sanguinary character, with a horrific form;
.r so far as they have resorted to the practice of offering
l?i :y sacrifices to any of these deities, on the dark side of his
di .-* icter, to that extent they have rendered homage to the
a* *.rlnal demonolatry and borrowed its spirit, either from a wish
•i conciliate, or , as is more probable from their having imbibed a
t ~ - .ierable share of the fear and gloom of their demonolatrous
cicessors or neighbours. In a similar manner the Buddhists of
* - = and Ceylon have added to Buddhism the worship of
36
- s demons, though nothing can be supposed more foreign
genius of Buddhism than such a system.
6 .) One of the clearest proofs of the un-Brahmanical
: -evil-worship is obtained by a reference to the history of
:_5 themselves. The process of demonification is still going on
Cues* the Shanars; and in every case the characteristics of the
itjC his worship are derived from the character and exploits
‘ ;nan prototype. There is a continual succession of devils
: die adoration of the Shanars, and after a time sinking
~cetfulness; but not one of the more recent of the race has
morion with the legends of Brahmanism. One of the demons
Tired at present, Palaveshum, was a Maraver of a servile
fc r ho made himself celebrated for his robberies and outrages
Madura round to Quilon" during the latter period of the
ian government. So celebrated has he become already that
of persons are called after his name. Mahomedans also,
: fccainly have no connection with Brahmanism, are supposed
r become devils. But it is a still more remarkable fact, and
which I suppose cannot easily be paralleled, that in the district
: - ghbouring Missionary an European was till recently
as a demon. From the rude verses which were sung in
: ?n with his worship it would appear that he was an
Officer, a Captain Pole, or some such name, who was
wounded at the taking of the Travancore lines in A.D.
i was buried abut 25 miles from the scene of the battle in
: waste ; where, a few years after, his worship was
“ed by the Shanars of the neighbourhood. His worship
in the offering to his manes of spirituous liquors and
Far from the system of demonolatry practiced by the
having originally been taught by, or borrowed from, the
ms , there is probable evidence that the Brahmanical system,
ir as it was introduced, was considered by the Shanars a
md rival creed, and expressly opposed as such. For
37
B- --- the grand national festival of the Shanars,the only day
*r: -ehout the year which they keep as a holiday,that which they
Egaier in a special manner the day of rejoicing appointed for
, is the first day of the solar month of Adi. This, accordmg
to - e Hindu Astronomy, is the first day of the sun's southern
■ - but of this circumstances the Shanars know nothing. No
Lc- can be more utterly ignorant of Astronomy than they are.
t - far as they are concerned,the first of Adi is professedly
L. . - ; a;ed as a festival in memory of Ravanathe RacshasaKing o
t- :r. who on that day carried off Sita the wife of Rama,the
L - _- 0 d 0 f the Brahmans. Ravana's prime-minister, Mahodara, is
to have been a Shanar; and to this day the Shanars glory
!, tte historical position gained for once by a member of their
C - and rejoice over Rama's grief and in Ravana's joy ! Does no
L - circumstance point both to the Cingalese origin of the Shanar
a and to the prevalence amongst them in early times of anti-
T--.~~;nical zeal? The Shanars have even succeeded in making
upon Brahmanism.In a village in my neighbourhood
j : - himself has been converted into a demon. Only think o t e
E: carious hero-god of the Hindus, Rama-chandra, the conqueror of
[ti- Racshasa and demons,and civilizer of the peninsula
shipped as himself a demon with bloody sacrifices and devil-
| ni and the usual frenzied orgies ! Here Brahmanism gives
j«-c the name :the form and genius of the system are anto-
t ohmanical ; and both the original independence and the
I Lreditary predominance and strength of the Shanar system receive
L* ir>t illustration.
The religion of the Shanars though unconnected with
Ifcahmanism is not without a parallel in the tropics. If a connection
- -- be established between it and any other form of religion 1
I Ti 1 . be classed with the superstitions of Western Africans a
-T-riies of fetishism. In fetishism we observe the same
- -^formation of the spirits of the dead into demons, the same
• rship of demons by frantic dances and bloody sacrifices, the
38
r :ssessions and exorcisms, the same cruelty and fear and
the same ignorance respecting a future state, the same
. indolent, good-spirit half visible in the back-ground, t e
e ssence of a regular priesthood, the same ignorance o
sm , religious mendicancy and monasticism and of every 1 ea
..ions and incamations.lt may be said with safety that dte
- -stems have a greater resemblance to one another than either
has to any of the other religions of the heathen world,
no reason however for supposing that there is any
between them,beyond the origin of both in the same
x mind and character, and the suggestions of the same
ririt
r - the close of this account of the demonolatry of the
B its practices and probable origin,few readers will be able
j the reflection ; - how different is the religious condition of
rude tribes from all the ideas we had formed of Hindus and
sm Notwithstanding the world-wide fame of the Hindu
Puranas, and Shastras, here is an extensive district in India
-Jiev are unknown. Here, amongst the Shanars survive the
a, and Pythons with which the gods did battle in their youth,
-.^standing the successive prevalence of the Brahmanism o
e ias, Buddhism and the Brahmanism of the Puranas, the
.-re of each in turn, and the eagerness of each to make
.. tes here is a tract of country containing, exclusive of the
■rranical inhabitants, a population of upwards of 6,00,000 souls,
Hindus, all belonging to recognized castes, who do not appear
• - have received any of those religions, and to whom what
reans call Hinduism is still a foreign creed. None of the sects
■hich orthodox Sivism is divided can be found here, muc
„ 3V of the innumerable sects into which Vishnuism has been
up. Here in polished and metaphysical India we find a
■ nation but little raised above that of the Negroes, an a
- - :n which can only be described as fetishism. And what exists
nnevellv is only a type of the social and religious condition
39
e tracts throughout India with which Europeans have not
become familiar.
It seems necessary to say any thing more respecting the
of the Shanars, and of the other castes and classes to which
liative Christians in Tinnevelly belong; for every thing which
ptr-cdy speaking , be called their religion has now been
i In giving an account of their demonolatry, I have
their scanty creed. A scantier creed or one less adapted
purpose of a religion, will not easily be found truly, " the
as shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it, and the
z narrower than that he can wrap himself in it." But the
- ess of the creed is not its worse feature. Considered as a
_ pon God and religion, it furnishes a melancholy subject for
r.plation to the Christian mind. Whatever be the opinion of
Lrians respecting the history of demonolatry, Christians cannot
to pronounce it hellish, both in its origin and in its
r. It is in truth a hateful, horrid system. God is banished
his own world and hearts He made. The sun is banished
the sky and even the hope, that the darkness which now
ill give place to a brighter sky hereafter, is shut out.
our Christian reader to realize the position of a heathen
and learn to be thankful for your privileges. Frame to
If , if you can, the picture of a godless world - a world in
± material principles and malignant demons divide the
icy between them. When afflictions occur , let it be
Hbacmed that it is malice that strikes and that neither does justice
:: nor mercy mitigate the blow. Suppose the grand and
vr.g truths which the Bible reveals reveals respecting the
the Son, and the Holy Ghost unknown and the light which
t • ~ is on man's duties and destiny extinct. In the absence of the
a: emnities and sanctities of the worship of God in Christ, picture
o vrself the frantic rites with which the heathen Shanar
rships his devils. The stillness of the night is broken by the din
-_r.e drum and the harsh bray of the horn announcing the
40
cement of a devil-dance in a neighbouring village. Follow
ihrough the tortuous, prickly -poar lanes, and witness
per’ ~r.ance from a distance by the help of the flickering torch
tk rserve in every thing the combination of the ludicrous and
y - the grotesque insignia of office worn by the
~: priest, his truculent, devilish stare, the blood bespattered
?n the temple and altar, the row of boiling pots on one
: = row of energetic musicians on the other, the
>us heap of offerings, and the characteristic union of
an: filth every where visible. Watch the excitement of the
s z crowd rising higher and higher with every new
and shriek of the devil dancer, and with the rising
k of the musical uproar; and hear ever and anon the
i shout of delight and wild devotion into which the
crowd breaks out. Then as you turn away from these
z rgies, contrast with them the worship of God in spirit
c math, the reasonable service with which Christians worship
and beneficent Creator through their Mediator's merits,
~ -.relation of the devil and all his works to which Christ's
"5 are pledged, the stillness of the Christian Sabbath, the
f the Church-going bell, the soothing, cheering voice of
and Prayers, the instructions, the persuasions, the devout
of the Christian preacher, the healing balm of
■ ts-institute this comparison and you will not only be
with the greatness of the difference between Divine
rp and the worship of devils, but will also be stimulated to
ery means in your power for the diffusion of the knowledge
±r*r better way.
Very little reflection will suffice to convince every
“at the character of the system of religion, professed by a
before their conversion to Christianity, must for several
--dons exert considerable influence on their character as
I r -' ins. The mass of our converts are Shanars, and were
■. Waters. Not many years ago demonolatry bore undisputed .
41
: amongst the lower classes throughout the province; and
:zh its influence has been curbed and curtailed by the
ion of Christianity, it is still the predominant religion in
parts of Tinnevelly. In those localities where Christianity has
extensively diffused and received, particularly in the
I - bourhood of Nazareth, devil-worship has diminished in
ionate ratio, and even they who remain in heathenism have
to follow the practice with the regularity and zeal of former
but where Christians are few and their influence small,
worship continues to be as popular as ever. Converts from
lolatry cannot all at once forget, though they may have
:oned , the system in which they were trained. They will
essarily bring with them in to the Christian church much of
materialism, their superstitious fear, and their love of rude
merits. The mind cannot slough off its old ideas and
ro-ations in a day. Even in England we still meet with relics of
ragan usages. Besides, Christianity operates only in so far as it
jv f d into the heart by faith. The Christianity of the unsanctified
has no more influence on the conduct than so much
latics. It is only when religion becomes a passion, or a habit
^ld things pass away and all things become new. It is surely
- : be supposed that of the 40,000 souls connected with the
:ns in Tinnevelly all are Christians in earnest. The public has
been told that the majority, though converted from
lism to Christianity, do not appear to have been converted
sin to God; that the faith of the majority is only an
lal assent to half -understood truths; and that the number
r^rsons who appear to be sincerely pious is small. It follows that
± e majority , or at least in a large proportion of cases, the
sdtious fear of the old demonolatry must have survived
sion to the new theology; or at least that the roots of the
stem remain. We must therefore, in estimating the value of
,-elly Christianity and the character of the Native Christians
•jji - - - eir former religion into account, its characteristics and its
--- ; - - ries , the temptations to which they all necessarily be
42
, toough their Old associations, and the mental and moral
— to he freedom
: nolaters.lt is cheering P rP 0 f native Christians, where
d^ose P eculiarWeS 'f to Se “" e produced one,is much superior
iossion is old enough to P now on rising
he first. Early Christian training hasta»8 ashamed of
—«
tr. aught of practising • imbued large numbers of
ng it by rationalism, an belief in
^ wJthat wh^
isxzzz. : ~ z :> •
ss z - -r •* ^r:r: ^
and that superstition is visible dy g
-e thank God and take courage.
43
M 7 RAL CONDITION OF THE SHANAR RACE
Ft tr. the description now given of the religion of the
not be difficult to form an estimate of its moral
rfhienee of religion in forming or modifying the
mat: ons is well known; and the peculiarity of the
character in all countries and amongst all races is a
me: conclusive illustration of the fact. Nations are what
: - Hence, the demonolatry of the Shanars being known
of god and of a future state, and their isolation
c - ses, one may safely infer that their moral condition
|cn low and debased. The absence of the restraining and
Exruences of Christian truth is,under all circumstances, a
>%;thing can compensate for ignorance of God. But when
this negative evil there is the positive calamity of a
es — a system such as Brahmanism in which the gods
and immoral, or a system like the Shanar demonolatry
irv supernatural power that is supposed to take any
in man is believed to be animated with malignity; — when
of a people like the former is really, but not avowedly
the latter, is avowedly, not from heaven but from hell, the
r ral results cannot but be anticipated; and at the same
m- 32v expect to find the moral effects of the one system
ir some particulars from those of the other.
In considering the moral conditions of the Shanars as
- their demonolatry, or by the operation of subordinate
-; . cental light will be thrown on some correlative
7 easons will probably appear why Christianity has
: more amongst the Shanars than amongst the higher castes
hv the Shanars as a class should be less bigotedly
: to their religion and more easily impressed by Christian
art d influences than other Hindus; and reasons also why
ie of character exhibited by the native Christians in
i’ ll' differs so considerably from that of the Christians of
B and Madras.lt will also be easier to conjecture what the
44
fs work and duty amongst the Shanars must be, and in
respects immediate success is probable or the reverse; as also
--mate the degree of influence which converted Shanars are
to exert upon the higher castes.
To help the reader to come to a correct conclusion on
:f these points,I shall now endeavour to illustrate the moral
of the Shanar religion and the manner in which those results
r-cxluced; pointing out where they coincide with, and where
differ from,the results of Brahmanism.
~£ Shanar demonolatry obliterates the idea of man's accountability
tr his actions , and consequently fails to exercise any moral
restraint.
The Shanars having no idea of God's omniscient presence.
His government of the world, or of the soul's immortality;
i r i their demons being supposed to be destitute of a moral
nature and indifferent to the conduct of their votaries, the
relief of a retribution hereafter cannot enter into their creed.
1 - accordance with this is the fact that no Shanars can be
_nd who anticipates giving account of his conduct to God
r devil. Hence, except in so far as the fear of the magistrate
:r the opinion of native society keeps them in check, or in so
ir as prudential motives stimulate their virtue,they feel
t e mselves at liberty to do, say, and think any thing they
r iise,and the majority of them make use of this liberty.
Ivbatever moral restraint arises from belief in a God above
_ - :r a judgment before us; whatever influence on the
- duct or the heart is exerted by hopes of bliss , or fears of
i ~ in whatever degree the conviction that God's eye is
sexm us, and that every thought and act is recorded in the
of His remembrance, produces the wish to please him ;
- £1 these influences and restraints the Shanars are destitute.
- Heir calculations the past is past for ever, and the present
r lenendent of the future. As there will not be any account
45
ereafter all is free, allowable, and safe. Who would hesitate
:: tell a profitable lie or commit a pleasant sin,when,if it
s - ould become known, there is little or no shame connected
ith it, and should it remain unknown in this world,it is
zonsidered certain that it will never be inquired into or
i sited with punishment in a future state, but will remain
mknown for ever ? When a temptation is presented to the
mind and probabilities are hurriedly calculated, this
: nsideration will generally be found to decide the point; and
hence, not only are all kinds of friends and immoralities
: -immitted daily and hourly, but, (and herein consist the chief
- iference between the Shanars and persons who professed
s . stem of belief is correct,) they are committed as matters of
: .■'urse with the coolest complacency and the most perfect
rreedom from fear.
The higher castes who adhere to the Brahmanical
s-stems profess to believe that they will be called to account
: :>r their actions hereafter, and will be rewarded or punished
a rcordingly, either by the process of a judgment and a
sentence , or through the consequences of their actions
a zcompanying them into the invisible world and determining
their condition with the force of a natural law and the
certainty of fate; but as, notwithstanding this professed belief
they regard their gods with reason as being no better than
themselves , and therefore likely to be partial in their
.idgment ; and as the conviction that somehow fate will
befriend the righteous and abase the wicked is of little force
in the absence of the sanctions of a Divine revelation from
heaven ;they are practically as little overawed or morally
restrained by their belief that the Shanars are by their want
of a belief. A loose, rationalistic faith in immoral deities is
quite as inefficacious as demonolatry, or atheism itself.
46
nonolatry of the Shanars, equally with the Idolatry of the
i t castes , disconnects the idea of moral duty from the theory of
:,s faith and worship. Consequently it fails exercise any moral
mnt.
We have so long been accustomed to consider justice,
iness and truth as enjoined upon us by Divine authority,
■n d as for making a principal part of the worship and
wer* ice due to God, that we find it difficult even in theory to
: sc r nnect morals and religion. It is generally supposed that
i ■a tever maybe the dogmatic errors of false religions, they
necessarily, as religions, teach some tolerably correct
f -tern of morality,in which the principal virtues are
mmended and the principal less denounced ; and hence,
that it is better for men to have a false religion than to be
• r ollv without a religion. This charitable estimate of the
religions of the heathen is so general that when it is asserted
that certain religions do not inculcate morality, or are
r posed to it, Europeans are apt to think the assertion
- anderous and founded upon a misrepresentation of facts.
B at, every person who has for some time resided in India on
rerms of intimacy with Hindus, and who is acquainted with
their social life and religious ideas, or with any of their
books of authority, is well aware of the accuracy of the
rcatement in its reference to Hinduism, and has found himself
long before he theorized on the subject, able to make the
necessary distinction. Certainly nothing can be clearer than the
separation of ethics from all Indian systems of religion,
whether idolatrous or demonolatrous; and in this particular,
the moral results of both systems, or rather the absence of
moral results, would appear to be the same. Though differing
in other things Brahmanism and Shanarism agree in this, that
they leave man morally where they found him.
In reference to the former, proofs of the truth of
the assertion lie within the reach of the British public, a large
47
■ r her of books connected with the Brahmanical system
L - ? ,in whole or in part, been translated and published,
i- - an inspection of those books will prove that, with the
, e exception of alms-giving,which is enjoined,not as a
P in itself, but on the ground of its efficacy in conferring
r r-.t and spiritual power, no moral duty is enjoined by
Hinduism,as on divine authority,or recognized as forming
but of the code.
The austerities of orthodox Hindus are purely
- e ihanical. Their restraint of the mental powers and bodily
-ergies differs widely from the subjection of the passions by
moral restraint. Their supreme deity is a mere metaphysical or
: atheistical abstraction - and algebraic unknown quantity.
- -eir contemplation of this deity is but an endeavour to
imprehend existence apart from modes and substance apart
from qualities. Their self-examination is for the purpose of
discovering not their progress in virtue, but their progress in
me persuasion that they themselves are parts of the supreme
deity - non-existent parts of the great non-existent. Prayer
.onsists in the recitation of verses of various degrees of
. intricate merit or magical efficacy; and the object for which
prayers are recited is not the acquisition of truth, wisdom or
moral goodness, but the acquisition of supernatural power.
The connection, too, existing between religious ceremonies
and merit is precisely that which was supposed to exist
between the performance of the prescribed incantations and
the attainment of magical gifts. Lying and licentiousness, pride
and anger, are not, I will venture to say, forbidden, expressly
48
or by implication,in any Hindu religious book; and if self-
ve appear to be forbidden, a closer examination of the
: -text will prove that by self-love is meant belief in distinct
^^'-consciousness of personal identity. It is true that various
books containing moral precepts are in use amongst the
Hindus; but it is to be remembered that the moral precepts
those books contain are totally unconnected with the dogmas
and sanctions of Hinduism as a religion. The observations I
rave made respecting the disregard of morals refer, not to the
ethical Shastras of the Hindus, which form their philosophy
rot their religion, and with which their religious systems have
rut few ideas in common,but to the Hindu,books of
mythology, theosophy, ritual observances, and devotion-the
strictly Brahmanical books, which profess to teach man s duty
towards God, and which constitute the religious literature of
the country. The ethical poems and disquisitions do not
profess to be divine revelations, or even commentaries on
divine revelations. To a considerable extent they are accurate
transcriptions of " the law written upon the heart;" but in so
far as they are ethically sound , they are irreconcileably
opposed to the cardinal dogmas of the religious system and
are consequently despised by religious devotees as secular
and insipid. For instance, the ethical writers declare that there
is a difference between right and wrong. The religious writers
with one voice protest that there is no such difference, and
that the perception of a difference is of itself a convincing
proof of man's separation from God. The Hindu moralist
49
affirms that " what is done with a virtuous motive is virtue;
all else is unreal show ." The Hindu religionist enjoins the act
alone, and affirms that motives have nothing to do with
merit. The ethical writers urge their readers to do good
actions and avoid such as are evil. The grand aim of the
religious writers is to persuade their readers to do nothing.
Action is inconsistent with contemplation, and the depth of
contemplation is reached when we cease to think, and cease
■to know that we are. There are few in these degenerate days
who have become so sublimely spiritualized, but many may be
found whose progress towards inanity is highly respectable. In
consequence of the contrariety of the two systems,the natural
and the religions , they who follow either consistently exhibit
what to an European mind must appear strange
inconsistencies. It is not uncommon to hear a most irreligious
man commended for integrity and honor, or to hear it said
of another that he is a religious man, a most devoutly
religious man, but a great villain. The rewards also which the
followers of the respective systems expect to receive
correspond to the genius of the systems. The moral man seeks
the reward of popular praise or his employer's favour. The
religious man expects to obtain magical power, to supplant
some god by superiority in merit, or finally to reach the ne
plus ultra of Brahmanical happiness, the cessation of separate
existence - the lapse of individual being into the diving
monad.
50
As in Europe we should dispute the existence of
any connexion between morality and the Scandinavian
mythology, or morality and magic, or morality and the " I "
and the " not I" of German metaphysics ; so in India we
may search in vain for any connexion between the religion
of the country and morality.
This is the state of the case as it regards the
religion of the higher castes; but the religion of the Shanars
is equally dissociated from morals, and therefore equally
incapable of exercising moral restraint. It does not require
many words to prove that atheism, materialism, and
demonolatry, whether professed or latent, cannot conduce to
make men just, merciful, and true; or that, whatever ideas of
moral duty the followers of such a system may possess, they
have not acquired them by the help of their religion, but in
spite of it. Even the Shanars are not destitute of moral ideas.
Though in a low and debased condition, and destitute of the
faintest glimmering of religious light, there is not any moral
duty which they do not in some form recognize as binding
upon them, or assent to as soon as it is mentioned. But their
notions of moral duty have not been derived from, or
confirmed by, the command of their devils, or their example,
the fear of their anger, or the hope of gaining their favour,
or the operation of any other motive connected with their
system of religion. Notwithstanding their knowledge of moral
obligation in theory, there is no duty which they do not
51
habitually disregard and violate in practice: and of all the
causes that lead to this moral debasement none is more
influential than the dissociation of their religion, such as it is,
from their notions of morals.
No prayers, or gifts are ever offered to their
devils and Ammens for the acquisition of virtuous habits or
peaceful tempers. Conscience tells them that they have often
neglected their duty, and been guilty of many moral offences
; but no means of any kind are used to atone for those
offences, because they do not expect to be punished for them
hereafter; and they cannot suppose that their devils will
think worse of a man for his resemblance to themselves. The
demons' anger is not aroused by any theft or lie, or any
amount of moral guilt, but flares up at an oversight or slight.
An accustomed offering has been neglected, or the devil's
authority has avowedly been thrown off, or the votary has
avowedly been thrown off, or the votary has fallen sick; or
recovered from sickness ; or it is expected he will be brought
into trouble through the demon's jealousy, or demoniacal
malignity is so intense as to show itself irrespective of
provocations, -- on such occasions and for such reasons;
sacrifices are freely offered; but no one thinks of sacrificing
to expiate guilt, to allay the reproaches of his conscience, or
in the prospect of going with his sins upon his head into
another state of existence. A man who has committed a
highway robbery straightway offers sacrifice to the devil to
52
prevent him from getting jealous of his success, and bringing
upon him the terrors of the law. Another seizes on the solitary
filed of a poor widow, whom he was bound by relationship
to protect and on taking possession offers a sacrifice to
secure plentiful crops. Devil-worship is, consequently, not only
dissociated from morality but perfectly subversive of it. If the
offering of bloody sacrifices, conveyed to the minds of the
Shanars any idea of their own demerit or of the necessity of
expiation, the rite might be productive of moral benefit, but as
it is founded on the supposition that the demon thirsts for
their blood through the truculence of his own temper,not on
account of any offence of theirs, the effect of the rite is only
to harden them in vice and steel them against mercy." Seeing
that they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, they
have justly been given over to a reprobate mind;" and even
the religion which their dark and foolish hearts have adopted
tends only to sink them deeper in guilt. The corruptions of
the best things being the worst, their religion is a school of
immorality.
3 . In consequence of the absence of the belief that man must render
an account of his conduct to God and the dissociation of morals
from religion, conscience has lost its controlling power, innate
depravity develops itself with fearless freedom, and truth, honor,
and integrity have well nigh become extinct.
I have no hesitation in asserting that if there be any vice
or crime which is not habitually practiced by the Shanars, their
53
abstinence from it is not attributable to conscientious scruples
of any kin, but arises, either from their want of predilection
for that particular crime or vice, through their intellectual
dullness or their cowardice, or from prudential regard to the
authority of human laws. And what I assert of the
demonolatrous Shanars,from my own acquaintance with their
social life,holds equally true with reference to the social life
of the Brahmanical higher castes,with whom I have come in
contact. In regard to offences against the person, I have no
doubt but that the natives of this part of India contrast
favourably with the inhabitants of Europe; in consequence,
partly, of the intense heat of the climate, which depresses
their nervous activity and produces indolence, debility, and
cowardice; and, partly, because the controlling strength of the
executive Government is much greater in this part of India,
in comparison with the strength of the individual, than it is
generally in European states. I grant also that the Hindus are
generally free from that greatest blot in the moral condition
of Europeans, the vice of drunkenness; a vice, which Hindus
suppose,like the eating of beef,to be destructive of caste
purity, and which, consequently, is held in abhorrence by all
but the very lowest castes in the agricultural district, and a
few high caste people residing in the great towns, who have
learned it from Europeans. It is worthy of remark that the
Shanars who extract the palmyra juice, which when allowed
to ferment is the ordinary intoxicating drink of the Hindu
drunkard, avoid the use of it in its fermented state as
54
their case, nor in the case of the Brahmans, do the moral
evils of the practice form an element in the calculation.
Notwithstanding these exceptionable abatements, the mass of
the Hindus, whether idolaters or demonolaters, are beyond
every other people I know, sunk in moral depravity. This is
not a fancy, or the opinion of a party,but an obvious,
unquestionable, and melancholy fact. The Hindus are not the
only depraved people in the world; but it may be asserted
with confidence that the extent and universal prevalence of
their depravity are without a parallel. Where else shall we
find such indelicacy of feeling, and systematic licentiousness ?
- the habitual use of such vile, obscene expressions ? - such
deliberate, placid cruelty in the treatment of inferiors and
brute animals ? — the commission of such flagrant acts of
oppression and wrong, as matters of course, where it is
supposed the injured party is too weak to resist?-such
intense, all-pervading, over-mastering covetousness ? -such
ingratitude, selfishness, and perfidy ?-such a preference of
under-hand trickery to open opposition ? - such cheating and
pilfering in all mercantile dealings ? such bribery in all legal
proceedings ? -- such fawning obsequiousness to the great, and
such haughtiness to the little? But especially where shall we
find such lying-such habitual lying-such audacious lying -
such multiform life-long, universal lying, as we meet with in
India, and which may well be called the national vice ?
Courts and cutcherries take no cognizance of most of the
55
vices and crimes to which I refer, and European officials are
too much raised above the people to be acquainted in any
considerable degree with their domestic life and social state. If
a Hindu is officially subordinate to you, or supposes that he
can gain any thing by your good opinion,he will appear all
subserviency and smiles; but let the relative position of the
parties be changed, and what a change appears in the
conduct and tone of the meek Hindu ? What trader or
planter, — what Missionary, — what private individual is there
, who has resided any length of time of India on terms of
social intimacy with the people, and is ignorant of the truth
of these statements ?
It is not to be supposed that conscience has ceased to
utter her voice. Notwithstanding the debasement into which
the people have fallen,they know what is right and what is
wrong. But, generally speaking, the voice of conscience, though
heard, is not in the least attended to; and to appeal to a
Hindu's conscience or sense of honor, in a case in which his
interest is opposed to yours and he has you in his power, is
about as useless as an appeal to the good feelings of a
hungry tiger.
It is a common saying in Europe that " there is
honor even amongst thieves;" but in India honor is little
known even amongst the members of the most influential
classes ; and such as is found is of that hardy kind which is
not hurt by duplicity. The Psalmist said " in his haste " that
56
" all men were liars," but in India he would have re-uttered
the assertion deliberately. It is true that amongst Europeans,
whatever be their nation or persuasion, we shall find persons
who are destitute of honor and truth, persons who habitually
disregard the dictates of conscience, and whose hearts are
seared against compunction. It is quite true also that for every
vice or crime and every shade of depravity noticed in India,
something similar or worse may be proved to exist in Europe
; and hence some persons, Europeans as well as Hindus, are
ready to argue too hastily that there is no material difference
between Hindu morals and Europeans. But the difference is
most material. What passes unnoticed by society in the one
case, excludes a man from society in the other. What in the
one case is the rule, in the other case is the exception. For
instance; — in Europe, persons who act habitually an
unprincipled or dishonorable part —cheats,liars and
adulterers, are marked men, shunned by the majority of their
fellows and outcasts from virtuous society. But in India no
man is excluded from a social feast or a meeting of the caste
, or even shunned in private life, on account of any
immoralities of which he may be guilty. Offenders against
caste purity are visited with social excommunication. But I
never met with, and never heard of a case in which Hindu
offenders against truth and honor were punished in this or
any other way, or in which known villainy appeared to have
the smallest effect in lowering a Hindu's social position.
57
In Europe, again, in dealing with persons who
follow dubious occupations or who live by their wits - low
public house-keepers, itinerant dealers in trinkets, hackney
coachman, professed gamblers, and such like, you are
prepared to expect that they will outwit you if they can and
feel few qualms of conscience respecting their success. But in
India you meet with open dishonesty, not only in persons
belonging to similar classes,but amongst all classes alike,—
landed proprietors, wealthy merchants, candidates for public
employment, (I say nothing of those who have obtained it)
literary characters, respected heads of families, — in short, with
a few rare and marked exceptions, all classes in the
community from the potent noble down to the starving slave.
To some extent the wealthy are kept within the bounds of
ordinary profligacy by their pride or their ambition. If they
fear being despised for a particular act by their inferiors, or
wish to appear honorable men in the eyes of those from
whom they have something to expect, an appeal to their
honor is sometimes answered by their vanity or their self-
interest ; either of which in the absence of honor helps them
to keep up the appearance of it. Hence persons who see them
rarely are induced to think more favourably of their character
for integrity than of that of the inferior classes. If however
there be any intrinsic difference between the higher classes
and the lower, you more safely believe the slave's word than
the word of his lord.
58
After an intimacy of many years with the people of
my own neighbourhoodhaving had various dealings with
many of them during that time ,and knowing, from the
common talk of the country, the character and many of the
proceedings of almost every body in the district, the decision
to which I have been constrained to come is, that the
wealthy and powerful classes, particularly amongst the
Shanars, with whom I am best acquainted, are more
depraved and unprincipled than their poorer neighbours.
Indeed I do not know one person of the wealthier class who
has not notoriously been guilty of oppression and violence, of
frauds or briberies, who does not pride himself on the
success with which he has crushed his foes by such means, or
who can safely be believed on his most solemn asseveration,
in a matter in which his pecuniary interests or the credit of
his caste are at stake.
In this statement I do not include the native
government officials, whose characters are sacred as long as
they hold office. Their reputation for justice is their fortune,
and it would be strange if some of them did not prefer clean
hands and promotion to immediate gain and eventful
disgrace.
It is not to be supposed that either the higher
castes or the lower are destitute of every trace of good
feeling. God's image, how greatly so ever defaced, has not
been utterly obliterated in any man. The Hindus as a race are
59
more depraved than any other people I know; but neither
have the Brahmanical idolaters become as vile as their gods
nor have the Shanar demonolaters become as malicious as
their fiends. The most vicious are not always pursuing a
course of vice; nor do the most deceitful lie literally from
mom till noon, from noon till dewy eve." There is apparent
in some more frequently, and even in the worst sometimes,
a kind of negative virtue. No people are more pliable than
the Hindus, or more respectful when in a good humour, or
more polite in their behavior to superiors and to strangers;
and as they are decidedly a light hearted people,fond of
sales and gossip and amusement, one will sometimes forget
the darker phase of their character.
As there are differences amongst individuals, so in
respect of particular virtues and vices, differences arising from
religious or caste diversion may be observed. In many things
I have classed the Shanars and the higher castes together, the
moral effects of unbelief and misbelief being nearly the same
yet there are some particulars in which the higher castes
appear to have the advantage, and others in which the
advantage is on the side of the Shanars. I shall mention one
of the most prominent points of difference on each side.
(1.) The higher castes are taught by their religion to be
liberal in their charities.
Almsgiving is the only moral duty expressly taught by
the Brahmanical religion ; and the credit it deserves on this
60
account is not great,for it does not ground the duty of
almsgiving on compassion, or brotherly love, or our
obligation to do as we would be done by; but recommends it
solely on the ground that it confers merit and power over
the unseen world. Hence, though charity as an opus operatum is
very common, charity as a sentiment is rarely observed. In
consequence of this defect in their teaching, the charities of
the higher castes are ostentatious. They never " do good by
stealth and blush to find it fame ;" and when about to
distribute alms, literally " blow a trumpet before themTheir
charities to private individuals bear no comparison with the
extent of their public charities - benefits bestowed upon the
community, such as wells and choultries; or to their religious
charities -gifts of money and lands to temples, or food to
devotees. Still, the almsdeeds of the Brahmanical Hindus are
sufficiently numerous to attract the notice and gain the
commendations of Europeans , and in this point their practice
contrasts favourably with that of the Shanars. The Shanar
demons offer no encouragement to the compassionate and
charitable , and grudge the bestowal of gifts on any but
themselves. They have no visions of heavenly worlds with
which to kindle the imaginations of their votaries, and, not
having any bliss to bestow on the meritorious, they have not
taught the existence of merit in almsgiving or in any thing
else. Consequently the Shanars are charitable only to the extent
to which Brahmanism has pervaded their demonolatry, or in
so far as the sentiment of mercy has not been totally
61
extinguished,and some germs of natural compassion for the
poor and the sick still survive. As this degree is minute at
the best,the charities of the heathen Shanars are minute and
rare, and certainly cannot for a moment be compared with
those of the Christian portion of the caste.
(2.) On the other hand the Shanars contrast favorably with
the higher castes as regards sincerity.
The greatest of all obstacles to the spread of Christianity in
India consists in the practice and love of lying which pervade
all classes of the people. The tyranny of the sun makes them
slaves; and" lying," it was long ago remarked," is the vice
of slaves ." In the case of the Shanars, this evil exists; but it
exists in a less formidable degree than in the case of the
followers of the Brahmanical systems. On first acquaintance
the Shanars may seem as deceitful and dishonest as the rest
of the Hindus, and their character for sincerity will not bear
to be tried by an European or Christian standard. But the
longer I have observed the characteristics of the various
castes,! have been the more convinced that as regards deceit
, especially deceit in matters of religion, the Shanars must
yield the palm to the high castes,and the high castes and all
castes to the Brahmans. Shanar deception is less habitual and
systematic than that of their high caste neighbours. Their lies
are never so natural, so smoothly polished, so neatly dove¬
tailed , or uttered with so complacent a smile. They often
hesitate in a lie and betray confusion, as if they were not
used to it; and when frightened a little have been known to
62
let out the truth. Hence they are cheated by the higher castes
at every turn; but though they have many dealings in
common, and some of the Shanars are not destitute of ability,
I have not heard of a case in which a Shanar succeeded in
cheating a high caste man. The Shanars have a worse
reputation for breaking their promises than for downright
deceit ; and in this case it is their procrastination, their
indolence, and fickleness which are mainly to blame.
It is particularly in regard to religion that the one class
manifests more sincerity or rather less deceit than the other.
The follower of the Brahmanical system professes to
believe in 330 millions of gods, but in the majority of cases
does not care a pin about any of them. He is punctiliously
attentive to his religion as a system of observances -- as a
religio , in the primitive meaning of the term. He never forgets
his ablutions, his holy ashes, or any of the thousand and one
ceremonies which sanctify his domestic life; but ordinarily he
has not the smallest iota of belief in the divinities he so
elaborately worships. He is forward to tell you that he is not
so dull-witted as to believe that any of them exist; and, if he
have picked up a little religious philosophy, he will aver that
nothing really exists. Brahma, Vishnu, Siva are a delusion;
virtue and vice are a delusion; all is a delusion. It is
superfluous to point out the consequences of this lying
rationalism in eradicating sincerity and candour and
preventing the ingress of the truth.
63
The Shanar, on the other hand, worships sincerely the
demons his frightened fancy has conjured up. He believes and
trembles. He has seen the grim objects of his worship in
visions and dreams; or caught glimpses of them in burying-
grounds , or when passing through the jungle at night. He
can tell you the place, the time, and all the circumstances of
every malicious freak of every devil in the neighbourhood;
and when sickness is abroad there is no mistaking the
anxiety, the hurry, and the eagerness with which he
endeavours to appease the demon's anger. It has been proved
in such cases times innumerable that," all that a man hath
he will give for his life." So deeply rooted in the Shanar
mind is this belief in the existence and power of demons that
, as has been already observed, even after they have become
Christians many of them continue to dread their old " idols
of the den." They allow that it is inconsistent with
Christianity to worship devils, and believe that the great God
will protect them from their assaults,but they are careful not
to do any thing needlessly to kindle their ire. It must be
obvious that the sincerity of the belief entertained by the
Shanars in their demons, though productive of superstitious
gloom, and incompatible with a high caste of thought, is
morally a more promising feature of mind than the conceited
rationalism or universal scepticism of the Brahmanical higher
castes, and capable of being turned to better account. It
explains their comparative freedom from deceit. It acts as a
counterpoise to their stupidity, timidity , and fickleness; and I
64
have no doubt but that it is precisely this feature in their
character which, more than any other cause, has contributed to
bring them under Christian influences, when the higher castes
keep aloof, and makes them the most reverential submissive,
and easily disciplined of all native Christians.
Notwithstanding these exceptionable peculiarities of the
higher castes and the demonolaters respectively, the moral
depravity by which both are characterized and which
pervades the whole mass of Hindu society, bears witness to
the evil consequences of their ignorance of God. " Know
ftveretore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter that thou
hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that My fear is not in
thee, saith the Lord God of Hosts. " The estimate of the
moral condition of the Hindus, whether idolatrous or
demonolatrous,whether of high or of low caste,which I have
now given is gloomy and unpromising in the extreme. But
beyond question it is an gloomy and unpromising in the
extreme. But beyond question it is an accurate picture ,and
one drawn directly and honestly from the life. " The fool has
the said in his heart there is no God." There is the religion
of the Hindus. The description of their moral condition
follows. " They are corrupt, and have done abominable works;
there is none that doeth good. " Many persons seem to
consider heathen as unfortunate rather than guilty, and
regard them with a sort of sentimental, romantic interest.
They are aware of their religious errors and pity their
ignorance, but are not fully aware of the extent and
65
wilfulness of their moral depravity. Hence they sympathize
more with the " poor" heathens, than with the honor of God's
righteous law which,though written upon their hearts,those
heathens have outraged, and by which they stand condemned
; and they feel reluctant to assent to the strict accuracy of the
scriptural statements and the justice of the scriptural
denunciations of the moral condition of the heathen world in
the 1 st chapter of the Epistle to the Romans and elsewhere. I
trust the account I have now given may have the effect in
some mind of vindicating God's ways to men in His dealings
with the guilty,and at the same time enable every reader to
see that the greatest difficulty - the only real difficulty - with
which Christianity has to contend m India, is a moral rather
than a religious one.
It is indeed scarcely possible for those who are not
personally acquainted with this field of labour to form
adequate estimate of the moral difficulties which lie in the
way of the reception of Christianity and the development of
its fruits. All the principles and habits which form the natural
character of the Hindus are, as we have seen, opposed to the
requirements of a holy religion; and all the avenues by which
convictions of duty and religious impressions gain access to
the soul are systematically closed. The conscience is seared,
the will enslaved and palsied, and the whole weight and
influence of society ranged on the side of evil. Hence, in our
intercourse with Hindus, whether high castes or Shanars, we
generally find them not only unwilling to embrace
66
Christianity, but unwilling even to take the subject into
consideration. To listen seriously to the claims of God and the
evidences of religion pre-supposes the existence of habits of
reflection and an awakened state of the conscience which are
rarely found amongst heathens, and which, when they are
found, appear to be the results of some preparatory work of
God's providence or grace. But besides this preliminary
difficulty, suppose Christianity sincerely received, it is obvious
that the morally depraved condition of the entire mass of
society must hinder, or greatly retard, the development of the
Christian character. In Europe the good seed of the word is
sown in a good soil. In India the climate is pestilential, and
the soil is yet to be created. Ages of antecedent Christianity
have prepared the European mind for receiving and
exhibiting an exact impress of the Truth. Christianity has
pervaded our laws, and social institutions, our science and
literature, and national habits. It has given us moral
sensibilities, habits of self-control, a keen sense of honor, a
generous enthusiasm in behalf of truth, justice and freedom,
independence in thought and courage in action, a scorn of
superstition, and an irrepressible tendency - a passion -in
favour of improvement and progress. Hence in most cases
when an European is converted from sin to God, all the
influences by which he is surrounded are favourable to the
development of a high Christian character. But how different
the position in which the Hindu convert to Christianity is
placed! The principles and habits received by tradition from
67
his fathers, his mental structure, all his remembrances and all
his associations, the precepts of the national religion, the
peculiarities of the national character, and the influence of the
family and the caste - all those are directly opposed to his
growth in piety; and most of those influences are incapable
of being turned to better account.
Who that has not had Missionary experience in
India can form any idea of the depraved moral condition in
which Christianity finds the Hindus ? What hearts they bring
with them into the Christian fold ! - what imaginations ! - what
social evils! - how dull and heavy their eyelids are through
long sleep ! -- and even after they have been awakened, how
tenacious the filth and mildew and cobwebs of ages adhere
to their minds ! In their case a new patch in the old garment
will not suffice. They require to have every thought and every
association modelled anew. Nor can it justly be anticipated
that in a single generation they will rise superior to the evil
influences in which they were brought up and by which they
are still surrounded, or make decided proficiency in the
Christian life. At the utmost we can only expect to see a few
convalescent amongst a multitude of sick - a few successful
attempts to emerge from " the horrible pit and the miry clay "
amidst many failures.
" ** Revocare gradum, superasque evadere ad auras.
Hoc opus, hie labor est. Pauci quos aequus amavit
68
Jupiter; aut ordens evexit ad aethera virtus,
Dis geniti, potuere."
In the majority of cases it will hold true morally, as it does
physically, that they who are descended from a sickly stock and
have themselves been sickly during the period of their youth,
though they should be removed to a better climate,will continue
stunted and dwarfed to the end, and never be competent to lead
the way in any high emprise. Our native Christians suffer for the
offences of their forefathers, as well as for their own. The diseases
of the soul are as certainly transmissive as those of the body. The
Hindu doctrine that the merit or demerit acquired in former births
determines our fate in this,is but a misapprehension of the
important truth that our character and condition are to a great
extent determined by the influences and tendencies, the blessings or
judgments which we bring into the world with us. We are not
placed, separately and singly, in the world, as independent monads.
Every man is a link in a long chain, united in weal and in woe
with those that preceded and those that follow him. Hence the
character of a corrupt people is reformed only by degrees, by a
slow and painful process by the spirit of judgment and by the
spirit of burning." One generation labours and another generation
enters into its labours. One step in advance becomes the means of
advancing another step. Hence also appears the necessity of
constant progress and persistency in the work in which we have
embarked. Not only the present, but perhaps several succeeding
generations of native Christians, must pass away before the
hereditary influence of heathenism cease to operate, and the mass
be thoroughly leavened and purified by the principle of a new life.
Well directed efforts extending through a long series of
years will change the most deadly climate; and we have reason to
hope for moral results of a similar nature in our efforts to
Christianize this people. From time immemorial the idolatrous or
69
demonolatrous heathenism of this province of Tinnevelly was a
vast, pestilential jungle, full of rank vegetation and wild beasts and
swamps and malaria. For many years only a few trees were cut
down here and there, and little effect was produced. By and by, the
number of the labourers increased, the work became more
systematic, means and appliances adapted to the circumstances were
introduced; and now the consequences of this benevolent work are
beginning to appear. Swamps have been drained, large portions of
the forest have been felled and cleared, and in consequence the
winds of heaven begin to circulate freely; and, though the malaria
has not disappeared, its malignity has abated. Still the work is not
yet done. The work of clearing, draining, and ventilating must
proceed with undiminished vigour. The portions of primitive jungle
which yet remain must be cut down. But it is consoling to know
that if this work continue to progress in the ratio of the past, and
God vouchsafe the continuance of His blessing, the moral
atmosphere will soon be entirely changed. The pestilential jungle
will become a " garden of the Lord," in which " the voice of joy
and health " only shall be heard. Even now it is unquestionable
that a marked improvement may be observed. The native
Christians as a body though not what they should be, or what we
hope they will be, are, as respects their moral condition greatly
superior to the heathens. It is not an empty boast to assert that
that their moral condition is immensely improved. Christians of
the higher castes are too few to admit of a fair comparison; but
in the case of the Shanars, the comparison between Christians and
heathens may easily be made, and the accuracy of it established by
an extensive induction of facts. If it only be considered that the
native Christians are placed under a close moral surveillance, that
they enjoy the benefit of the guidance and control of European
pastors, and that they are subjected to the exercise of discipline for
faults which the laws of the country cannot reach, it must appear a
necessary consequence, irrespective of the influence of the
instruction and education they obtain, and irrespective also of the
renewing power of the Gospel when truly received into the heart,
70
that they must exhibit in their conduct more integrity and honor,
more truth and meekness, than their heathen neighbours, who do
not enjoy the benefit of any moral teaching whatever, and who
have no man to care for their souls. Would that I could say that
all the native Christians, or many of them, have made as much
progress in Christian virtues as they could, and as they ought! But
amongst a people who had lost the idea of accountability, whose
ideas of morals were dissociated from their religion, and who were
, in consequence, totally destitute of honesty and honor, it is to be
expected that practical Christianity will make at first but slow
progress. It is necessary that the circumstances of the field in which
the war is waged, and the character and resources of the enemy,
should be distinctly known to enable us to form a fair estimate of
the value of our success. The conversion to Christ of the intelligent
, the amiable, and those whose minds are not pre-occupied by
prejudice, will ever be a source of gratification; but it cannot
appear so decisive a test of the truth of the Christian religion, or
so conspicuous a triumph over the devil, as the conversion of the
unprincipled, the fanatical, or the atheistical ,and the establishment
amongst demonolaters of the principles of the Divine life.
In describing the religious creed and moral condition of the
heathen portion of the Shanars and cognate castes, I have
indirectly afforded materials for estimating both the condition and
the prospects of the Christian part of the population. It is not
sufficient for the purpose I have had in view to know that
Christianity has been introduced amongst the Shanars. We must
know what existed before the introduction of it, and what they
who have not embraced it still are, before we can judge accurately
what kind of Christians a people are likely to become. Besides the
particulars I have mentioned respecting the religion and moral
condition of the Shanars, directly considered, there are various
circumstances connected with their material civilization, and
peculiarities in their mental character, which exert a modifying
influence on their condition and prospects. In carrying out my
71
object of describing the characteristics of the Tinnevelly Shanars
and illustrating the facilities and hindrances to their moral and
religious improvement, it is now necessary to refer to those
circumstances.
1. The moral condition of a people is more or less influenced by
their worldly circumstances ; and the poverty of the Shanars as a
class is so deep that it cannot but be supposed that their
condition is considerably affected by it.
The tract of country in which they live is extremely
unfavorable to their advancement in material civilization, being
dry, sandy, and sterile; nor is it capable of much improvement,
the annual fall of rain, the great fertilizer, amounting on an
average to only 30 inches. It is true that the soil is well adapted
for the growth of the palmyra palm; but the profit derived from
the climbing of the palmyra is extremely small, when compared
with the amount of labour it involves. The cultivators of it seem
condemned for ever to hard work and a scanty subsistence, and
cannot in the most favourable circumstances expect to rise much
higher in the social scale. A large proportion of the Shanars are
proprietors of the small patches of ground in which they grow
the palmyra, and, however hopelessly involved, cling with a
desperate grasp to the name of landed proprietors; but the
poverty of the great majority, whether proprietors or hired
climbers of the trees of others, is quite as deep as that of the
Pariar and Puller slaves in the rice-growing districts. The Nadans
are in possessions of extensive tracts of land, besides claiming
hereditary rights of seignorage over the lands and habitations of
the rest of the shanars; and hence may, as a class, be
considered to be in comfortable circumstances. Many of the
lower branch of the caste who have engaged in trade have
acquired a similar status. A few of the more wealthy of them,
perhaps twenty persons in various localities, are said to be
worth about 1,000 £, -- or according to the value of money to
them , 6,000 £ ; but the Nadans and wealthy traders form but a
72
small proportion of the caste; and the poverty of the mass is
great and unquestionable. They are rarely in danger of starvation
, but are never raised more than a few degrees above it. In the
great majority of cases they are unable to cultivate their lands
to advantage, to introduce any improvements which require
expenditure, (even if they were willing to improve, which they
seldom are,) to embark in trade with a proper amount of capital
, to build houses fit for civilized people to live in, or to do
anything to make their children more comfortable than
themselves. This statement is particularly applicable to the
Pariars in Tinnevelly, and other castes inferior to the Shanars,
whom I have included under the name of the latter, and whose
poverty admits of scarcely any exception.
Poverty affects the moral condition of a people by
inducing, especially in an enervating climate, disregard of
reputation, disinclination for improvement, an unsettled habit of
mind, and finally fatalism; every one of which consequences of
poverty is more or less distinctly exemplified in the case of the
Shanars. Though a portion of the members of the caste are
raised above poverty, the majority are poor, and the
characteristics of the majority influence the character of the
entire body, each acquiring a certain tone of mind from his
intimacy with the rest. It is necessary to bear this in
remembrance in estimating the difficulties which lie in the way
of the hearty reception of Christianity by the Shanars, the
diffusion of Christian education among them, their moral
improvement, their social advancement, and their eventual
sustentation of their own religious institutions. I do not consider
their poverty an obstacle to their nominal reception of
Christianity ; for, being less enslaved than the higher castes by
the pride of race and the pride of life, and to a great extent
disregarded by the Brahmans, and even by the sectarial Sudra
priests, as too poor to suit their purpose, their situation must be
considered as favorable to their reception of Christianity, rather
73
than otherwise. But, as must be obvious, it is unfavorable to th
development of those social and economic benefits and
Christianity and adhered firmly to their profession of it,th
worldly circumstances have sensibly improved; and ^ not m
consequence of any pecuniary help they received. from
Missionary,but through the operator of moml ca
through their gradual progress in diligence , their par
emancipation from the tyranny of customs an
acquirement of habits of economy and forethoug .
2. There are circumstances in the temporal conditions of the Shanars
which, as engendering a litigious spirit, produce an injurious effect on
their moral condition.
The litigiousness of theShanars attracts the notice of
strangers on their arrival in Tinnevelly, and is genera y
s-r- £=" “r" “■*
of the time of the elders of every considera e vi g
howevMvmy decided conviction - ^
amongst the Shanars is not so much the result or a y
tendency as of circumstances in their condition whichi are
capable of being obviated,or greatly modified ,and hat
moral evils arising from the habit are not msuperab .
In ordinary affairs the Shanars do not seem to be
more tenacious of their rights, jealous of encroac men ,o
l,,,*, ,b». tod. «»t ®« ttog..bl. wto
74
litigiousness; and I am convinced that the blame is mainly to
be imputed to the baneful operation of the Hindu law of
inheritance amongst an illiterate people.
In other parts of India the castes and classes,
corresponding to the Shanars in social rank, are either tenant
farmers or farm servants. But the Shanars of Tinnevelly, though,
as a class, poor , uneducated, and in a low state of civilization,
can boast that, with few exceptions, they are proprietors of land.
The Nadans, the descendants of the original lords of
the soil, are a numerous class, and still retain the larger portion of
the land in their own possession; but as there is not, and never
was, any obstacle to their mortgaging or selling their lands to
others, (their rights of seignorage alone being considered
inalienable,) most of the actual cultivators, originally the renters or
servants of the Nadans, have in process of time become proprietors
of the pieces of land they cultivate and the trees they climb. The
lands which have thus come into the possession of nearly every
Shanar family have been minutely, it might almost be said
,infinitesimally, divided by the operation of the Hindu law of
inheritance. In accordance with this law the father's property,
whether real or personal, is divided equally amongst his sons; and
if the family estate be considerable, every daughter receives a field
or two as a marriage portion. The eldest son receives no more than
the youngest ; though not unfrequently he manages to appropriate
an additional portion, whilst acting as administrator to the estate
during the minority of his brothers.
As there are no manufactures, and but little local and
no foreign trade, and as every handicraft is monopolized by the
caste of artificers, there is nothing to induce any Shanar voluntarily
to abandon agriculture and seek some other means of support.
Every one lives on the produce of his lands ; and a
proportionate share of the property and its produce is the only
means of livelihood he transmits to any of his children. Property is
75
thus more and more sub-divided, until it ceases to be able to
support the impoverished owner, and he is obliged, as a as
resource against starvation, to sell his portion, if an umncumbere
portion remain; or his relatives, exemplary friends m need a
advantage of the opportunity and dispossess him of his lands by
general combination.
The whole proprietary class, through the operation of this
comminuting process, would long ere this have sunk into the
deepest poverty and misery, had it not been that population has
for ages ceased to increase, and that the more powerful
systematically encroach upon the property of the weaker, and
compel them to migrate or work for hire.
In most cases the sons of the original owner agree to
preserve the family estate undivided, for the sake of the advantage
of associated labor; and as long as this arrangement continues the
portion which falls to each of the share-holders is a portion not o
the soil, but of the produce. A division is generally insisted upon in
the time of the grand-children, if not before. Under the most
favorable circumstances every one is obliged to e upon
to secure his own share of every crop; and in most cases , the
encroachments and retaliations , the feuds and jealousies whic
occur from time to time, and the total want of honesty and
principle which every partner in turn evinces, compe t e
interference either of the heads of the village as arbitrators, or of
the Sircar as preserver of the peace. Every succeeding generation
aggravates the existing confusion of rights, and the estate becomes
ere long a battlefield of conflicting interests.
An" undivided Hindu estate," as it is technically called
in the possession of a divided family, may be described as a joint
stock company in which all the share-holders alike are directors,
secretaries,and treasurers,and in which it is the undisguised
endeavour of each partner to appropriate the common pro 1
charge upon the company his private liabilities.
76
In any country and amongst any class an association like
this would be productive of evil. It will not be difficult to imagine
what the result must be amongst a demonolatrous, semi-civilized
people, destitute alike of legal knowledge and of moral principle.
In the second or third generation, the share-holders, unable any
longer to bear the troubles and broils incident to their partnership,
determine to effect a division of the estate, with a definition of the
boundaries of each person's share. But such a division is more
easily determined upon than effected; and the attempt invariably
converts domestic feuds into open war.
One has sold his proprietary rights,and yet insists on
obtaining a share in the division of the remainder. Another by
private trade, or superior industry, has added a few fields to his
ancestral portion, and is naturally annoyed when called upon to
surrender them for equal division. The father of a third party
mortgaged half his share; the son of the mortgagee is ready to
swear that the mortgage was a sale; and neither party has any
document to produce in confirmation of his statement. One person
has mortgaged his portion over and over again ; and the
mortgagees are at war amongst themselves without any prospect o
a settlement. Two of the partners have effected a pretended sale of
the entire property, without the consent or knowledge of the rest;
and the rest have retaliated by selling the portion belonging to the
two to a powerful neighbour. In this complicated position of things
, the conflicting parties agree to refer their case to the arbitration o
a punchayat, or village council of five, who have been appointed to
settle disputes by the general voice of the neighbourhood; a course
which is generally preferred to a reference to the courts, as being
both less expensive and more likely to elicit the facts of the whole
case and lead to an equitable decision. Possession being considered
by the village arbitrators, as by most lawyers, of more importance
than abstract rights; the greater number of the documents
connected with the dispute having been lost , destroyed, found to
be ambiguously drawn up, or alleged to be forgeries; not one of a
77
the sales,mortgages, &c.,having which Y the village
cutcherry ; and the testimony o g ' favora ble or adverse
punchayats mainly rely,being S^ Q ; l h ; r or the other; it is
according to their connection £ovmd ed
but seldom that the decision of the endea vor to effect
absolutely upon the merits. More com subordinate points by
a compromise between the p ”* 6 of his statement,or
calling upon each litigant to' swe when compromise of
to cast lots whose each portion* appens that the soil is
this kind is made an agree , ^ be plante d in the
acquired by one, the tt66S ™ 1C houses that have been or may be
Ht upL b l rlThirT- an arrangement in which will be
pervaded many a loop-hole for future contention.
Amongst Shanars it not
person concerned “ upon some clever rogue who acts
able to read or write. A P and it has 0 ften been
as secretary and registrar: to e sub ' eque ntly referred to, a few
known that,when the decis inser ted Qr omitted to
important words were found to have
favor one of the parties.
The settlement in
court of arbitrators is . moves to be only a
received justice , an legally binding, he
tod, or friends. tho d—»" " ' J‘ lo , dbk seinme of
M-lf H disputes ™ to
what he considers to be h g appeal is made to
revived , the litigation commences afresh and an pp
the council of arbitrators in another villag .
78
All the time these feuds have been carried on, the entire
estate has stood registered in the Sircar revenue accounts as the
property of the great grandfather, who by a kind of legal fiction is
still alive. He is personated by a descendant of his eldest son,who
has, ex-officio, received the common ancestor's name, ( the Tamil
for grandson is " namesake,") and who to save trouble and keep
the estate undivided has acted as agent for his relatives in the
payment of the land tax, and in keeping custody of a few scraps
and shreds of " the mother title-deed." This person, perhaps the
prodigal of the family in his youth, is now the most needy; and
some day new light is thrown upon the case by his appearance
before the police with one of his long, pendant ears slit, and a
profusion of red-ochre and saffron wounds all over his body. He
complains that he was in peaceable possession of certain lands , (
as he can prove by Sircar Puttahs and receipts for the land-tax
which he has brought with him,) up to the previous day, when he
has assaulted, driven out of his field, his ears slit, and the produce
of his fields carried off by a band of his enemies; and therewith
he prays for protection for the future as occupant and possessor.
His hired witnesses agree in their testimony; the village
accountant's good offices have prudently been retained; his receipts
and Puttahs , and the entry of his name in the registry as
responsible for the entire land-tax, are accepted as proofs of the
fact that he has been in possession; and the result not
unfrequently is that the police authorities by a summary decision
put him in possession of the whole estate, in their capacity of
preservers of the peace, and inform the rest of the annoyed share¬
holders that they may have their remedy by a reference to the
civil courts.
Here commences a new and more public course of
litigation, which may eventually be more definite in its results, but
is not general more equitable, and is always more tedious,
expensive, and harassing, than the proceedings of the local
arbitrators.
79
When all the shareholders in a landed estate, are, as the
Shanars generally are,illiterate,destitute of principle,and on the
verge of pauperism, the Hindu law of progressive sub-division
must inevitably produce a harvest of feuds and litigations; and
even in cases which occasionally occur,in which a number of the
ltigants are peaceable and honestly disposed people, the
circumstances in which they are placed, and their total want of
lirBein n v and w reth0Ught ' PlUnSe th6m ^ Hti S ati ° n *eir
• Being unable to read or write, they have always been
accustomed to give their word instead of their bond, and to
consider the one as good as the other; and when a neighbour
offers a similar security, so long as he talks plausibly, they see no
ger m accepting it. They forget that men's minds sometimes
change with their circumstances, and that they ought to be
prepared for the hostility of those who are now their friends They
should at least take care to provide documentary evidence for the
protection and guidance of their children, in the event of the
children of their neighbour looking upon the transaction in a
1 erent light. But these ideas are too transcendental to enter the
to'hust h U T red Shanar PeaSant EV ^ ° ne WaS —turned
hls neighbour s word, without taking the precaution of
obtaining even his mark; or, having,no idea of the value of
w °“r r hen a dispute Was n0t g0ing ° n ' he had aIlowe d the
mieht on Y at UP T ^ V ° UCherS Ws father left Arsons
tanslt the U b r ° f PrOC6dUre 38 th6Se 3 handi -^or
■ but , meSS 3 Petty ^de' without much inconvenience
' Y Wh6n pr W in la " d * at stake, want of intelligence and
prudence on the part of the joint proprietors, and a course of
interminable divisions and sub-divisions must inevitably produce
confusion and every evil work. That persons of so humble and
onlnTta a T- ^ Sh3narS Sh ° Uld S ° generaUy be P r °P™^s
of land ,s a peculiarity which is not elsewhere met with,and one
which lies at the foundation of the litigiousness complained of The
the fields they possess or not. They know that they ha^e many
80
rival litigants; but they know also that they are in possession, as
their fathers were, and this knowledge satisfies their conscience.
To such an extent are all rights enveloped in confusion
that I do not know of a single case in my own neighbourhood in
which the possession of a field is undisputed; and in buying land
for church-building, or other Missionary purposes, I have generally
considered it safest to deal with the possessor de facto , whoever he
may be, and ask no questions for conscience' sake. In a few cases,
for additional security, I have paid the full purchase money to two
parties, and if at any time I have gone out of my way to inquire
who was of right to be considered the owner of the field, the only
result has been the discovery of a long succession of feuds and
frauds running back beyond the memory of man.
The remedy for this state of things must be sought in
an alteration of the Hindu law of subdivision, — a result which
cannot reasonably be anticipated ; or, better still, in the diffusion of
education and of those habits of prudence and forethought which
all education, but especially that which is connected with moral
and religious training, is found to promote. The latter remedy is
now being vigorously applied; and I have no doubt but that in
another generation or two the litigiousness of the Shanars will
cease to be proverbial. Amongst those who are still heathens all
rights continue to be uncertain and unsettled. Every thing may be
contested by every body. But where Christian education has been in
operation for a number of years, disputes have sensibly diminished
, councils of arbitration have acquired juster views and greater
influence; and in the various arrangements that are now made
respecting the disposal of real property less and less room is left
for subsequent litigation. The law of inheritance remains unaltered,
but the increased enlightenment of the people renders its operation
less baneful to the public peace; and when conversion from
heathenism occur, though disputes are brought into the Christian
community, it is to effect a settlement of them.
81
The increased price which palmyra sugar now brings in
consequence of the establishment of sugar refineries in Cuddalore,
and the influx of money into the country through the opening for
profitable labor presented to the poor by the cultivation of Coffee in
Ceylon, together with the establishment of so many Mission stations
and the erection of so many Bungalows and Churches throughout
the province, have improved the condition of not a few of the
poorer classes of the Shanars, and enabled them to redeem portions
of their encumbered property. But the advantage springing from
this source is but temporary; and it is much to be wished that
local manufacturers of some kind could be introduced, and that
the raising of scanty crops on sterile sands, and the climbing of
the palmyra ceased to be the sole stay and support of the entire
people. So long as they have only the produce of their lands to
depend upon, the law of inheritance remaining as it is, the sub¬
division of property cannot be effectually arrested by merely moral
motives; and one cause of litigation will be found to survive.
It were superfluous to attempt to point out the
prejudicial influence of a litigious spirit on the moral condition and
religious prospects of the people amongst whom it exists. It is
sufficient to state the degree in which it operates.
3. The languor and apathy produced by the heat of the climate
exert considerable influence upon the condition of the Shanars ,
morally, socially , and intellectually.
Religion, civil institutions, and social habits are pre¬
eminently influential in the formation of national character;
but climate and its correlative material influences exert a
modifying effect. Whatever excites nervous energy develops
a spirit of ambition, courage, and endurance; and
whatever diminishes nervous sensibility and depresses the
vital powers induces apathy, timidity, indolent contentment,
and a disinclination to change. The influence of climate on
the vital energy being confessedly great, its influences on
82
the social and moral well-being of a people, though
indirect , must also be considerable; and hence,in
endeavouring to form a correct estimate of the condition
and prospects of a people, peculiarities of climate and their
results cannot be left out of the account. Though the soil
be of a similar nature to what is found to exist elsewhere,
its productiveness is affected by excess or deficiency of
rain or heat. In like manner, whilst moral influences are
every where the same in themselves, their strengths ,
developments, and products are more or less proportionate
to the degree in which physical energy and mental vitality
are found to exist.
The climate of Tinnevelly is one of the most
equable,but one of the hottest and dryest mIndia; the
annual range of the thermometer being less than 20
degrees ; and the heat for nine months in the year
continuously , day and night, being upwards of 80 degrees.
Whatever be the effects of such a climate, the Shanars are
exposed to them in all their intensity. During the hottest
part of the year, from March to September, the principal
occupation of the men is that of climbing the palmyra,a
tall mast-like palm,with only a few fan-shaped leaves at
the top. The object of this laborious task is to obtain the
juice which flows from the bruised flower-stalk of the tree,
and which is collected, as it drops, in little pots tied to
the stalk. This task they are obliged to ply during the
greater part of ever y day, in the full blaze of a vertical
sun. The women are at the same time engaged in boiling
down the sweet juice into a coarse sugar,in a temporary
hut in the vicinity of the trees; and though they have the
protection of a roof, this advantage is neutralized by the
heat and smoke connected with their work. The more
wealthy, being able to hire assistants, are not so much
exposed to the sun; but the daily labor of the vast majority
83
is that which I have described; and unquestionably it is a
more exhausting and stupifying species of labor than any
other performed within the tropics. It will readily be
supposed that exposure to the unmitigated force of so fiery
a climate, combined with such incessant toil, must have the
effect of depressing nervous energy and drying up the
springs of mental vitality. And if in the majority of cases
the result be a state of lethargy and apathy, as it must be
confessed it is, a charitable mind cannot but consider tins
result as rather the misfortune of the Shanars than their
fault But whether it be a fault or a misfortune, its
consequences,as regards their social and moral condition,
are such as must be lamented. Whatever advantages arise
from strength of will, or strength of emotion - from the
ambition which desires, or the courage which dares to exce
- from earnest zeal, or tender sentiment, or resolute
persistance; of these advantages, and they are neither few
nor insignificant,the inhabitants of the tropics in general
enjoy but few, and the portion which falls to the lot of
the Shanars is literally less than nothing, the entire
tendency of their character being in the opposite direction.
In the majority of cases the result is not simply apathy, or
dull contentment,but downright indolence; a feature
which may truly be considered the most prominent in the
character of the Shanars, as deceit is the most prominen
in the character of the higher castes. There cannot be a
stronger proof of the depth of their apathy than their
conduct towards their sick relatives. In at least half of the
cholera cases amongst the Shanars which I have attende ,
I have been obliged to employ a trusty servant to keep
watch in the houses of the sick, having found by
experience that the majority of the people will allow their
own children to die in agonies rather than be at the
trouble of keeping awake for a single night to give
medicine at the appointed times. Having grown with their
84
growth and strengthened with their strength, their
indolence shows itself in every thing they say or do; in
their work, their walk, their look, and even their
amusements; in their youth as well as in old age; in their
vices as well as in their virtues. It represses their anger, it
mollifies their litigiousness, and is a drag even upon their
avarice. It takes off the wheels of their ambition, it twines
itself round their rising energies and crushes them in its
folds, it turns every endeavour to improve their condition
into folly; and should they become conscious of its evil
effects, and wish to shake it off , the wish itself vanishes
before it can ripen into an act of will. As a stream of
water in descending a mountain's side infallibly discovers
and follows the path in which least difficulty lies, so the vis
inertiae of a Shanar's indolence infallibly teaches him where
the minimum of difficulty may be found - the easiest way
to take every event, and the easiest way to get through
every work. Why should he attempt to overcome a
difficulty, when it is so much easier to go round it ? Why
should he struggle through the world, when to slide
through it is the custom of his caste ?
Of the long train of evil consequences produced
by their habitual indolence, one of the worst is the slavish homage
it induces them to pay to custom. The supremacy of custom
amongst all castes in India, high or low, is generally attributed to
a prejudice in favor of the wisdom of their ancestors. They are
supposed to regard former ages with extravagant reverence, and on
this account to give the authority of law to every traditionary
notion and old usage. But observation has convinced me that their
subjection to the tyranny of custom is not the result of any
intellectual bias, but is simply a form of indolence, and a result of
the intense heat and enervating influence of the climate. To plan
and forecast and provide for contingencies; to exert themselves
more than the necessity of the moment demands; to dig beneath
85
the surface into the reason of things; to endeavour to reach a
higher position than their forefathers; or to seek after any thing
not ready made to their hands; - these are tasks which the
languor and laziness produced by the heat of the chmate teach
them to dislike. It is not any intellectual prejudice but the love
ease produced by their languor, which has taught them their
“”«!=. a ■*. «*.; -a «■* *» *»“* Z
thing new,simply because novelty is troublesome,and they
want to bo bothcvcd .
Even when one of them has by any chance adopted a new
course of procedure in any thing, the same habit of mind shows
itself in his reluctance to mollify his practice at any subseque
time - 'not that he always considers his original course the best in
itself', but that “in this hot weather “he cannot bear the trouble o
changing.
The same regard for custom is found to influence
Europeans who have been a long time resident in this coun y,
L” especially ,h* i*.—■> * “T .
an " old Indian " in any new direction, as it is to move
; and neither is much less difficult than to move a mountain.
Through the subjection of the Shanars to the tyranny of
custom, it is difficult beyond conception to effect any improvemen
even in their temporal condition. Though they love their money
much they love their ease still more; and if a propose
undertaking be in the least at variance with their accustomed
routine or likely to be attended with any risk or trouble, howeve
promising it may be in itself, it has no charms >nthen eyes, ey
cannot bear to make experiments , or calculate probabdities o
advantage; they cannot bear the trouble of thinking. And if m the
advantag , y however trivial,
undertaking proposed to them,there De a y p
which requires to be determined by experience he doubt an
anxiety involved in such a case are too dreadful for them to
encounter.lt is their custom to idle away half their time,to
86
their work in a clumsy, wasteful manner, to be contented with the
trade and position of life with which their forefathers were content
, to be always in debt, and to live from hand to mouth; and
though it is easy to convince them of the propriety of abandoning
such customs, or rather of adopting better customs in their room,(
for without customs of some kind they cannot live,) it is a very
different and much more difficult thing to induce them to act
upon their convictions. They will not hesitate to make promises of
improvement; -" we'll do so and so to-morrow;" we'll commence
to do it by degrees ;" or, more doubtfully still," we'll do it when
we get wisdom;" but in nine cases out of ten their only object in
saying so is to induce you to leave them to themselves.
It is a curious circumstance that whilst the indolence of
the Shanars is such a hindrance to their improvement, it has been
productive of at least one good effect,by keeping in check the
sanguinary tendency of their demonolatry. It might be expected that
their conduct would be marked by the cruelty and blood which
characterize their worship; but the heat of the climate has
mollified the acerbity of their tendencies and deprived them of the
courage to be ferocious.
The indolence of the Shanars being to a great extent the
result of circumstances external to the will, and being to that
extent connatural and constant in its operation, it is useless to
argue with it; for even when you have produced conviction, you
have not advanced a single step nearer obtaining your purpose.
You may batter down the strongest stone wall; but what effect
will your battering train produce upon a bank of earth? The thick
mud walls which Hindus cast up round their town, and which,
though they look so contemptible, prove so excellent a defence,are
but types of the manner in which the same Hindus defend, their
creed against arguments and their social system from the troubles
and perils of improvement. Active resistance might tend to unsettle
their minds, but the passive resistance of sleepy unconcern is as
safe a defence as it is effective.
87
There are other causes, besides the influence of climate from
which apathy arises; and sometimes, as in the Turkish empire,
where the climate is fitted to develope mental energy,its influence
is neutralized by the over-mastering strength of religious prejudices.
But where the climate is unfavorable to energy, and directly
productive of bodily and mental languor, what can save the people
from yielding themselves up to indolence ? I know of only one
thing that can save them; and that is the diffusion of Christianity
amongst them, with its moral excitements, its conflicts and
encouragements, its education of the youthful mind, and its gifts of
Grace. In the case of the heathen Shanars, no such influence
counteractive to that of the climate exists. They have no principle
within,or motive from without,or communication of life from
above, to arouse their minds; and hence their indolence, and the
moral and social evils consequent upon it, seem incapable of
mitigation so long as they remain heathens.
In those of them who have been converted to
Christianity other influences are beginning to operate and impel
them into a state of progress. But for one or two generations to
come it cannot be expected that either their physical or mental
energies will thoroughly be roused. Christianity must root itself in
their affections ; what they know intellectually they must learn to
believe in and appropriate ; they must be trained to activity and
energy from their earliest years; and, withal, it may not be left to
their option whether they will abandon their hereditary indolence
and endeavour to improve themselves, or not. Christianity is a
complex idea, including, or appropriating, all influences that
conduce to man's well-being in this life and the next; and those
influences each in its turn must be brought to bear upon their
drowsy minds. They must be shamed out of their apathy, and urged
forward in the road to improvement. Mere doctrinal teaching is not
sufficient to meet the exigencies of the case, nor the use of merely
moral persuasion. If we would save them from themselves, the
pedantry of adherence to the strict letter of European systems and
88
scholastic precedents cannot be retained. We must deal with them,
not as professors, but as pastors and fathers, adapting our
measures and motives to the circumstances of each case, with the
patience of wisdom and the authority of love.
From this peculiar necessity of meeting and overcoming
the indolence of the people have arisen the " plans " to which
Missionaries so often refer,-plans which vary so much with the
place, the time , and the circumstances, and which are so often
reviewed and recast, and their effectiveness scanned with so much
anxiety. Whatever be the immediate object of the Missionary s
plans, whether they relate to the management of the schools, or to
the congregations — to the control of the native teachers, or to the
social improvement of the people, it may safely be said that they
all aim at the accomplishment of one and the same object. All are
intended to meet, master, and rout out the monster vice of
indolence. Amongst a people free from this vice, our plans would
be simple indeed; and our time would not be interrupted by
employments which are uncongenial — I will not say to our work,
for of that they form an important part —but uncongenial to our
tastes and unconducive to our own edification.
We cannot expect that the Shanars will ever acquire the
energy and fire of the inhabitants of colder and more favoured
climes. But there is so much mental excitement involved in the
sincere reception of Christianity, the powers of the soul receive
such a stimulus from the new , magnificent, and affecting ideas
which Christianity reveals, that although the physical tendency to
indolence should remain,the awakened mind,lit up by the energy
of a new life, may be expected to acquire the will and the ability
to bring the physical tendency under control. Even in cases m
which Christianity is only received with a mechanical faith, the
punctuality , order, and obedience which the members of the
congregation are taught, from the time of their profession of
Christianity, and the exercise of the mental powers, the habits of
discipline, and the spirit of emulation in which the Christian
89
children are trained, cannot but produce ere long a considerable
effect. Still we must not be so sanguine as to anticipate any great
social change for some time to come. A whole tribe will not move
rapidly; and the larger portion of the Shanars has not yet begun to
move.
4. The intellectual dullness of the Shanars seriously affects their
moral condition and prospects.
The statements I have made respecting their hereditary
poverty and indolence and the degree in which physical
causes tend to aggravate and perpetuate those evils, must
have prepared the reader to form a low estimate of their
mental capacity and augur unfavorably of their desire to
cultivate and improve such powers as they have.
Such anticipations are in accordance with facts,
the Shanars as a class being perhaps the least intellectual to be
found in India. Where Christianity has not been introduced, the
great majority of the people are not only unable to read,but
unwilling to learn or to allow their children to learn. The only
persons who know one letter from another belong to the class of
Nadan land-owners -- men of property and substance, whose
pecuniary interests would suffer if at least one of the family were
not able to sign his name and keep notes of his accounts. Even
amongst persons of this class not more than one in ten is found to
have acquired this ability; and hence it is a common practice
amongst the Nadans to club together and employ a high caste
man as their accountant. Amongst the other and greatly more
numerous class of Shanars, which comprises the majority of the
small proprietors and traders, and to which the climbers of the
palmyra exclusively belong, I have not met with or heard of any
individual remaining in heathenism who had learned to read. If
such a person were any where met with, it would probably appear
on inquiry that he had been a pupil in a Mission school in his
youth, and had kept up his reading through the silent influence of
90
the example of his Christian neighbours. As it was not thought
expedient, or even allowable, for women to learn, I have not heard
even a tradition that any woman before the introduction of
Christian education ever learned to read. Even the majority of the
musicians who sing at devil-dances, the wandering minstrels who
make verses at weddings in praise of all who pay them, and at
least half the native physicians, are unable to read the verses they
make or recite.
In these remarks I refer to the heathen portion of the
Shanars; but as the great majority of the members of the caste are
still heathens, and as Christianity has but recently been introduced,
the intellectual condition of the Christians must necessarily
correspond to that of the heathens in a greater or less degree. The
totally uneducated condition of the mass of the Shanars is partly a
consequence of their intellectual dullness,but it is also one of the
most operative causes of that dullness. Languor indisposes to
exertion, and the cessation of exertion increases languor. When this
cause is viewed in connection with its correlates, we shall be able
to account for the mental torpidity of this people. Let it be
remembered that the exercise of the mental faculties by persons
who are unable to read is a most difficult and fatiguing task,for
which the indolent have less liking than for any other kind of
exertion; that the climate and the occupations in which most of
the Shanars are engaged are directly productive of indolent torpor
both of body and mind; that all the faculties, whether physical or
mental, with which human nature has been endowed, as they are
strengthened by exercise so they become drowsy and feeble
through disuse; that intellectual development depends so much
upon organization, and is consequently to so great an extent
hereditary, that on an average children resemble their parents as
much in their mental capacity, in their tendencies and tempers,
and in the degree in which ideas call up emotions, as they do in
their features and their bodily constitution; that the mental
characteristics which the Shanars or any other caste may exemplify
91
in one generation cannot be modified in succeeding generations, as
in other countries they would be, by the intermixture of the
characteristics of any other caste, class, or climate, but are
perpetuated by the influence of caste restrictions and the practice
of intermarriage amongst near relatives; that every caste,being cut
off from intimacy with every other caste,its character can be
changed, if changed at all, only ab intra by a change in its
circumstances,or by the operation of a new class of moral causes;
and that, apart from the introduction of Christianity an t e
establishment of Christian schools, no change in the circumstances
of the Shanars, or merely moral motive, can be efficacious enough
to awaken their minds, or induce them to take even the first step
towards intellectual improvement by learning to read:— let these
things be taken into account, and the reader will readily
understand how deep and general, and, except it be remove y
Christianity, how hopeless must be the mental torpor of so poor,
so indolent,and so caste-ridden a people.In the operation of the
ordinary laws of nature no other result could be anticipated. A few
persons may be found who are exceptions to the general rule an
manifest a fair amount of intellectual acuteness, but such exceptions
are few indeed, and the general characteristics of the class are
strongly marked and proverbial.
Persons who have had an opportunity of comparing the
Shanars with the emancipated slaves in the West India Islands
think the Negroes superior to the Shanars in intellect, energy, an
vivacity; and this opinion receives confirmation from the well
known superiority of the Negroes to lower classes of the Hindus in
every department of manual labour followed in the colonies, and
the proportion generally found to exist between the physical
energy of a race and its capacity for mental development. When
compared with other Hindu tribes, the comparison is equally
unfavourable to the Shanars. I am not acquainted with the
intellectual capacity of the predial slaves on the western coast, or
one of the wild hill-people; but of the castes found in the Carnatic
92
down to the very lowest in the social scale, I am confident that
none can be compared with the Shanars for dullness of
apprehension and confusion of ideas. In this assertion I refer
distinctively to the Shanars themselves, not to the castes which I
have sometimes included under their predominating name; for the
Pariars, and even the castes inferior to the Pariars, having in their
daily business more intimacy with the higher castes than the
Shanars have, their intellects have been sharpened, and even their
expressions and pronunciation are more accurate.
The intellectual condition of the native Christians of
the Shanar caste, though in some degree modified by their
Christianity, is lower than most Europeans can conceive to be
possible. The difficulty we meet with in teaching the members of
our congregations who are unable to read, (the vast majority as
yet,) to commit to memory one short passage of Scripture every
week, even if we relieve them from the still sorer task of
endeavouring to understand it; and more especially the difficulty
we find in making the majority of our Catechists and
Schoolmasters, though the choicest intellectuals in their caste,
comprehend the plainest doctrinal principles, trace the connexion of
the links in the simple chain of reasoning, or draw the most
obvious inferences from facts; — these convey practically to all who
are engaged in Missionary labours amongst the Shanars a
melancholy idea of the intellectual dullness of the class. Even in the
case of the most intelligent and studious natives we have in
connexion with the Mission, ( I speak of the Missions of the
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel,) irrespective of their
weakness of character as compared with Europeans, which is a
separate consideration and a very distressing one, I do not know
of a single individual who really appears able to think for himself
on any point of Christian doctrine, or scriptural interpretation, or
on any social question; and they who appear to best advantage at
our annual examinations of the Mission agents are those whose
memories are most retentive of the explanations, the illustrations,
93
and the very expressions that have been dictated to them by their
Missionaries. If this be the condition of the most intellectual class,
how torpid must be the minds of the majority! and how far is it
necessary for them to rise above their present condition before they
can understand the reasons of the Christian faith, or apply its
teaching to the direction of their lives with discriminate
conscientiousness ,or propagate it with an unbidden zeal springing
up in the convictions of their own minds!
The dullness of intellect by which the majority of the
Shanars are characterized has unquestionably a prejudicial effect on
their moral condition and religious prospects. In the first instance,
it tends to deter many of them from embracing Christianity. If the
Christian religion, like the religious systems of the heathen world
were a mechanical routine of ceremonies, or a blind belief in local
legends,it would be possible to embrace it without intellectual
exertion. But as it is pre-eminently a system of principles, and as
even its facts are intended to be didactive, it must be understood
to be available for the purposes for which it was revealed; and
hence, its teachers must necessarily endeavour in the first place to
make their hearers understand it, and then to impress its truths
upon their hearts and initiate them into its spirit. The moment a
Shanar becomes a Christian he is required to apply his mind to
the comprehension of a new set of ideas; and, being perfectly
illiterate, it is found necessary for him to begin by committing to
memory portions of Catechisms and passages of Scripture, without
which it were in vain to expect him to comprehend abstractions.
This is a new kind of employment, and a most wearisome one, to
people who knew that they had hands and mouths, but had no
suspicion that they had minds. Yet, if they would become
Christians, they cannot escape from this dire mental toil; for no
Missionary will allow any man /woman , or child to be called a
Christian who does not endeavour in some shape to understand
what Christianity is. The diffusion of Christianity involving
94
systematic instruction, and instruction being distasteful to persons
of feeble intellect, Christianity, in the estimation of the Shanars, is a
difficult, literary religion. The name by which Christians are
commonly called is " learners." A man is said " to commence to
learn," when he becomes a Christian ; and when he relapses into
heathenism “ to refuse to learn." Even in the language used by the
Missionaries, when people embrace Christianity they are not
ordinarily called " converts," or " proselytes," but are said to have
" placed themselves under Christian instruction." Now the aspect
under which Christianity appears in this peculiar state of things is
by no means an attractive one to the Shanar mind; and the labour
and trouble which they know their dullness will entail upon them,
in the event of their becoming Christians, are a serious obstacle in
the way of their conversion, which it requires some strength of
conviction, or impulse from without, to enable them to overcome.
The characteristics of a people mentally and morally
may be illustrated by the tenor of their objections to Christianity.
For instance, in Madras, where most of the people are educated,
and where religious controversy and strife prevail to a great extent
, the most popular objections to Christianity are rationalistic, or
virtually atheistic. In the interior, on the other hand, the objections
of high caste Hindus are generally founded on their pride and
secularity. "If they embrace Christianity, they will become unclean
in the eyes of their caste, their social consequence will be lowered,
they will be cast off by their relatives and lose their livelihood,
their private conduct will be subjected to supervision, they will be
required to bring their wives to Church, and their daughters must
attend school. " Of these objections to the reception of Christianity
the last only is common to the more wealthy Shanars and the
higher castes. I have not at any time heard a Shanar bring forward
rationalistic objections; and question whether he could use such
objections if we wished. Generally also, conversion to Christianity
is found to raise rather than lower him in the social scale. The
objections and excuses which the Shanars are accustomed to bring
(
95
forward are peculiar to themselves, and are excellent illustrations
of their character, their mental calibre, and their social condition.
Thus a Shanar will say: - " I shall become a Christian when the
rest of the people of the village come. How can I learn alone;" or,
- " I shall become a Christian when God wills, when He gives me
wisdom, or tells me in a dream that I must learn; " or, - " if I
become a Christian , the devil will kill me; my neighbour who
began to learn last year lost an eye before two months were over,
and if he had not gone back in time he would have been a dead
man ere now; " or, — " if I become a Christian, farewell to dances
and festivals and caste customs ; farewell to the dear, delicious
uproar of tom-toms and horns, at weddings and funerals;" or, - "
if I join the congregation, I shall not be allowed to work on
Sundays; every little accidental fault will be strictly enquired into,
and I shall be expected to give money to a great many Societies;
"or, as a last defence, from which they think nothing can drive
them, if I become a Christian I shall have to learn a great deal;
morning and evening, the gong or drum will be calling me to
Church, and if I don't come often you will be vexed; and the
Catechist will always be running after me to teach me something
or other. I am a poor, stupid man and don't understand any thing.
Why should I take so much trouble about any thing that is not
eatable or wearable ? You say if I become a Christian if will be
well for me after I die; but who has seen heaven ? who has seen
hell ? " It is the Shanar idea, not that their religion is true, but
that it is good enough for them. " Christianity, though a very
noble religion, is not suitable for hard working stupid people such
as they are,who always go to sleep when their work is over and
are not accustomed to think." They never venture to suppose that
it is not a true religion, or not a good one abstractly.
Unsophisticated Shanars would reckon it the height of impudence
for any one to say that the religion of the white gentleman -
judges, magistrates, and missionaries, besides the Governor General
and the Queen - is not a true religion. But its truth is like the
truth of mathematics, very puzzling and very profitable to poor
96
people - a species of truth which it is not necessary for them to
know." As it is necessary for the village accountant to understand
the extraction of square-roots, and the astrologer to know in what
asterism the moon is, so it is necessary for Europeans to
understand Christianity. Without it how could they administer
justice as they do ? How could they be gentlemen ? But it is not
necessary that Shanars should be discontented with their humble
faith.lt serves them to keep the devils in check and that is all they
want." Having no idea of God's government of the world, of
rewards and punishments in a future state, or of the necessity of
an atonement of their sins, they do not comprehend that
Christianity is as necessary for them as for us, and that when the
poor or illiterate reject it, they reject that which alone can make
them, not only wise, but rich, and greedy for ever.
As the intellectual dullness of the Shanars is practically
an obstacle to their reception of Christianity, so after they have
become Christians it is a serious hindrance to their progress m the
Christian life. In proportion as the power of apprehension is weak
the sphere in which religious acts is contracted, its influence is
diminished, and the development of its fruits is checked. Growth
in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is an
essential condition of growth in Grace. Grace is not a material,
influence, but a concomitant of the truth; and where the mind s
utmost efforts scarcely enable it to grasp the first principles of the
oracles of God, it will generally be found that Christian piety has
not advanced beyond first principles. The spirit of wisdom and
understanding is as necessary a gift of Grace as the spirit of God s
holy fear; and they who do not or cannot add to their virtue
knowledge will be sore hindered in running the race that is set
before them. Hence, the intellectual deficiencies of the Shanars affect
unfavorably their religious prospects; and without denying the
operation of other causes, those deficiencies alone would suffice to
account for much of the disparity apparent between their
advancement in Christianity and that of the Christian converts in
97
primitive times. We read that the Apostles were often resisted and
often despised, and that their teaching was often misrepresented
through the hostility of the enemies of the truth; but we do not
read that their teaching was ever unintelligible through,the
stupidity of their hearers alone. Viewed simply as compositions, the
wonderful Epistles they wrote were not above the mental
comprehension of the persons to whom they were addressed. On
the contrary, texts and arguments were often cursorily alluded to,
which the readers were expected to adduce and apply for
themselves. On this ground, in some degree, the effects produced in
the first ages by the preaching of Christianity as compared with
the effects it now produces in Tinnevelly and in other portions of
heathendom may be accounted for. Irrespective of the Jews to
whom the Apostles preached, and their antecedent preparation for
the reception of the Truth, how great a disparity is apparent, as
regards intellectual preparation, between the heathens of Greece
and Rome and our Tinnevelly Shanars, or indeed any heathens
now to be found ! Where shall we now meet with heathens so
intellectual, so emotional, so aesthetic, so eager in the pursuit of
truth, so capable of being impressed with the beauty, awed by the
grandeur or melted by the sweetness of God's voice in His word.
Why! their Christianity seems to have known no infancy whatever,
but all at once they were born men in Christ. Surely we cannot
expect any thing similar in the first generation, or even the second,
of Christian Shanars. We cannot justly expect that a statue of clay
or gypsum shall have the strength or the beauty, the durability or
the polish of one of Carrara marble, though the design, the
proportions, and the general effect be the same. Christianity does
not alter men's minds prior to the reception of it. It cannot be
responsible for the condition in which it finds them. But it is
gratifying to know that , whatever be that condition, it improves
and elevates it by sanctifying it. " The entrance of God's word
giveth light; it giveth understanding to the simple;" and this is the
ground of the hope we entertain in the poor Shanar's behalf.
98
Let no one suppose from any thing that has been said
that Christianity is beyond the reach of the Shanar's intellect of
that of any human being. They are capable of ^derstandmg ^
essential truths when unartificially and popuar y s a _
capable of believing what they know, and practicing what y
believe and loving what they practise. As far as I can ju ge
appearances, the most consistently pious Christian in my district is
a person who cannot read. Knowing little else, he appears to now
he oX true God and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent; and there
are not a few in Tinnevelly who like him find the most necessary
truths the clearest." Believe on the Lord JesusChrist and ^ thou shah
be saved ;" - this germ of Christian doctrine is as
Shanars as to us.On the other hand,the logical de ^°P^°
this germ in the Epistle to the Romans - the explanation of the
principles of the connexion subsisting between faith and salva on,
and indeed all explanations of grounds and reasons, are beyond h
comprehension ofXe majority of them. A mere statement of f c
ft, mod »i «- «* T “"ft*
- ”" d 11 ■JZi..
pmbodv " Milk " is thus provided for babes ,
Xt for them that are of full age." And hence when we find a
people who, like the Shanars, are children in understan mg,
well to remember that out of the mouths of ^ hlldren ^ h
perfected praise; that with the rudiments of knowledge He
confer the rudiments of saving grace; and that it is not th
amount of a mads gifts, but the use he makes of them,not die
number of talents committed to him,but the propor
« e «„d, hi„ ft hi, lord.Sail,it hold, ™ ft*!
who have received ten talents and gained other ten will s an ,
absolutely at least,in a higher position than they who hav
“od’,.0 ,hd g«d Oft., five ~ To ftft t
given;" and this is God's rule both in Nature and
European Christians, we have reason to thank Go 01 ma "-
» good and perfect gifts » of special love; but the Shanks have
also reason to thank Him for His merciful condescension
99
low estate. He condescended to the lowly, when He assumed man’s
nature, and He still condescends to the lowly when He makes the
faintest glimpse of divine knowledge and " faith like a grain of
mustard seed " available for a Shanar's salvation.
It is gratifying to perceive the efficacy of Christian
education in improving the mental as well as the moral condition
of the Shanars. Though even the educated are very deficient in
intelligence, yet it is unquestionable that there is a marked contrast
in many particulars between them and the uneducated. I do not
mean, and no person of reflection will suppose, that all the
educated youth are necessarily superior to all their uneducated
seniors in integrity of character, in the desire of improvement or
even in real mental enlightenment. In the majority of cases however
their superiority is immense, as regards their power of
comprehension and their power of expression, their ability to
follow the service with intelligence and understand sermons, and
their perception of the force of arguments and persuasions. Their
education, such as it is, has given us access to their minds; and
hence its value, when compared with the total ignorance of the
majority and their consequent unimpressibility, is incalculably great.
And if we do not see all the results we look for now we shall, by
God's blessing, see them hereafter.
If it were our main object to make the pupils in our
schools logical reasoners,we might give up the task in despair.
We can teach every branch of study more successfully than the art
of thinking. But the grand object of education we give is rather a
moral than an intellectual one. Others may aim at the heart
through the intellect; we aim at the intellect through the heart. We
hope, it is true, to awaken their thinking powers; but this hope is
subordinate to, and included in, our hope of leading their souls to
Christ. In many cases, especially in our seminaries and boarding
schools, the pupils are acquainted not only with the letter,but, to
some extent, with the spirit of God's word. Their hands are
furnished with weapons, and their young minds trained for the
100
spiritual conflict. Nothing now is required but faith to enable them
to rise and conquer; and " faith is the gift of God.
Suppose this apparatus of Christian teaching and training
continued in operation for at least another generation ; suppose
a supposition which will probably soon be realized -- the entire
mass of the native Christians in Tinnevelly, men and women , with
few or rare exceptions, able to read God s word, and a large
proportion of them persons who had been trained in our boarding
schools, and consequently accustomed to attention and reflection, to
observation and deduction - accustomed to act on higher principles
than the rue of the caste and custom; suppose also that a goodly
number of these have added " to virtue godliness," and spiritual to
intellectual life; and who can calculate the degree in which it may
please God to raise this entire race, mentally as well as morally ?
5. There is another peculiarity in the Shanar mind which may
briefly be noticed as influencing their moral condition and
prospects, especially with respect to their reception of Christianity.
Partly through their indolent submission to custom, and
partly through their inability to think for themselves, and their
timidity, their habits of mind are " gregarious " beyond those of
any people I know. Solitary individuals amongst them rarely adopt
any new opinion, or any new course of procedure. They follow the
multitude to do evil, and they follow the multitude to do good.
They think in herds. Hence individuals and single families rarely
are found to relinquish heathenism and join the Christian Church.
They wait till favourable circumstances influence the minds of their
relatives or neighbours; and then they come in a body. In like
manner, if through any cause a new learner should wish to return
to heathenism, he generally waits till he can succeed in engaging
on his side the sympathies of a portion of the congregation.
When single individuals or families embrace Christianity,
their apostasy is of comparatively rare occurrence; as in the very
fact of their acting on their own convictions, without waiting for
101
,ud2 7 7 e Pr0Ved themselves p0ssessed of “ independent
n r f "r/Tf ° f WiILThiS 8re ^ ious disposition appears
difficuitt t ; mai ° rity ° £ 4116 “• * is -onceLb.y
“ T^ mdlVidUalS t0 ‘ ake a -ngle unaccustomed step
alone. But when a movement has commenced, very little effort is
required to induce them to join in it and swim w! the sZ a m In
general they join it of their own accord, and would feel lonely and
helpless if left behind. 7 and
It is now time to bring to a close this sketch of the
description I T m ° raI and P ros P ects of the Shanars. The
espedalv of ** T" ^ general cha "s«cs of the class,
the English T ei "° n ° atry and lts consequences, will enable
of tteli " t0 ' erably Mea ° fthe condition
he heathens and the prospects of Christianity in Tinnevelly The
sure ITU 3 gl ° 0mier ° ne tha " WaS antid P ated J but I am
sure that .t is an impartial, faithful, truthful one. And if the
devil 'and h' " ^ ‘ 0 de6Pen “ “ y mind ite abh °rrence of the
devil and his works,or excite it to more compassionate love and
ore generous exertion in behalf of souls which Christ died to
save, and which are perishing for lack of knowledge, one great end
I have had m view will be gained. 8
It IS always satisfactory to know what it is with which
we are contending; what are its powers and resources; and what
in Tin" ' S ™ ^ be antici P ated - !t has been our lot
foes ■ andlt 7 d'ff^T fr ° m ““ exa SS erations °f both friends and
foes, and it is difficult,perhaps impossible, to refute the one
without appearing to give a triumph to the other. I hope I have
done better than refute either by furnishing facts and stating
prmciples for the guidance of the Christian enquirer. I have neither
attacked nor defended.lt has been my desire neither to black! the
picture by prejudice, nor to * say smooth things and prophecy
celts. I have endeavoured to illustrate the nature of the
102
superstitions and moral evils which Christianity has to supplant in
this province, the characteristics and capacity of the classes with
whom,we have to deal,the facilities and hindrances to the
progress of Christianity which are involved in the circumstances of
the people, and the nature of the trials or encouragements with
which the Missionaries meet. It cannot do harm to throw light on
the condition of the people whom we are endeavouring to
c istiamze. The exclusion of romantic sentiment may prevent
disappointment hereafter,and will,I trust,have the effect of
rousing to our aid principles of infinitely greater strength,
urability, and value. I confess that in the picture I have drawn
ere seems to me nothing which is likely to interest the merely
natural mind. The wise man, the scribe, the disputor of this world
, the political economist, the merchant, the seeker after the
picturesque , would find nothing suitable to their purposes amongst
the Shanars. Worldly men seeking to accomplish their worldly
objects,or aiming at benevolent objects in a worldly spirit, would
a andon so degraded a people to their fate. But they who "know
he Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, though He were rich, yet
for our sakes became poor,that we through His poverty might be
made rich, will not - cannot act so merciless a part.
Difficulties in Christ's cause,and in the cause of man's
welfare should only serve to kindle zeal. The more debasing the
superstitions the more depraved the morals,the deeper the
poverty and indolence and stupidity of the people whom we wish
to christianize,as the difficulties increase,so should our
determination to meet and master the difficulties rise higher and
and the^T 8 3 ^ AH ' mighty as our Lea der and Commander,
he truths we endeavour to diffuse being a sufficient remedy
for all the evils of society in every clime, why should we doubt of
a victorious result? He maketh His strength "perfect in weakness;
and never is this more manifest than when " the weak things of
he world and the things that are despised "are the objects of our
a ors of love. If there be any who think the Shanars beneath their
103
depraved to b^Zorth^IvlnT ^ ^ raising ' to °
.1 ' whomsoever thev mav hp t
sure they are not like fnri t u , . , y may be Ilke - 1 am
=«
Shanars, or he^eTcl" I ^ Zt^ ^ **
*e pit whence te^''Sh^' ^ ^ *
are now a settled a n pa ui hanars were, as they
ancestors were fc t rX ' a “ indUSW0US
and had not that grace* whichif- ** ' ” Wanderin S rob bers;
notwithstanding their hieh or nngeth Salvati ° n arrested »«",
the race might have rel 7 " o£ Ornate,
Lord's grace aione X has" T** ‘° ^ is
the same grace elevate the sLnaX Thef^h"' ^ Sh ° Uldn0t
r,
*• «—'Zzzzsi.rzr,-
ifr tr * - ,
raised the Angles the Tutes h c’ m mmd and m heart, as it
change from the worship of Her*, u. f he
of the Lord from heaven h a ^ ^ e&rth ~ t0 the wors hip
not similar results to produc&Tbv ttre^ h mighl r moults, why may
»*• "»“r •< -»- o™ „4^s r”“ p ”*
o r - ZTi °'-
Muen^On'theTnlXX a ^ aren ‘ ly , inaccessible ‘o Christian
and peculiarly accessible. WiZufpXf Xiftout '
religious re* ; sacred ..d„. m; ™
104
. ,u a t aversion to Christianity as a foreign
recollections ; wi*o ^ ^ obstacle to their
religion which oth They have always
'r,r
been found more willing to e guided , controlled, and
have embraced it more willing g number
moulded by its principles, than chr istian
of this one caste that have p ac conver ts in India, in
instruction is greater than that of all . a wide
connexion with all Protestant isaions. . mongst them;
- r — - 1 **” ■” ,h *
and that Gospe is J ^ pro fessedly, the religion of
same sense m which it , Y ls in Tinnevelly
the people of England^ Alrea Missionary Society and the
alone, in connection wi , and about 20,000 souls in
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel Society,
South Travancore, in connexion wi^Lon^ ^ ^
have abandoned the demono y detected in the
fathers. It is true that serious defects ^colrts - defects
character and temper of most o be the defects
which Christianity must remove , for India,a
which mingle with their profession,! Y should have
remarkable thing that so large a number o this^a ^ ^
embraced Christianity. Should we not confer
. , n , Providence to occupy and cultivate runy
specie! caH of Providen ^ ^ ^ ^ our aid is besought .
peculiar sphere .It men and women, calling
Thousands upon thousands g we are called ,
themselves by the same holy name ^ w ^ bec ome worthy of that
invite us to " come over and help tnem
name.
The Shanars of ^ ^od they
=r,::.=rrr„
105
no disloyalty , have ever been laid to their charge. Though taxed,
like all Hindus, under all successive Governments, beyond their
ability, more submissive tax-payers are no where to be met with in
the world. They gladly allow that the feeling of security, and the
certainty of obtaining justice when they have an European to
appeal to, are an ample compensation for the weight of taxation
imposed upon them. Now if our nation has profited by their
temporal things; " - if of the 30 lakhs of Rupees, or thereabouts,
collected as revenue in Tinnevelly, by far the larger portion has
year after year been sent out of the Province, for the advantage of
European officials and proprietors of India stock, or as a
contribution towards the expense of the military government of
less submissive races, is it reasonable that they should receive at
our hands educational advantages and " spiritual good things " in
exchange. Notwithstanding their poverty they are not thought too
poor to be taxed; notwithstanding their stupidity and debasement
they are not thought unworthy of the benefits of English rule;
why then should they not be thought equally worthy of the light
of knowledge and the blessings of Religion ? Though it is not
expected or desired that the Government should teach them
Christianity, it might justly be expected that it should teach them
to read and write, -- that it should endeavour to raise them in
intelligence, or at least in material civilization. But our well-
meaning Christian Government has done infinitely less for the
improvement of the condition of its subjects in any respect,
whether intellectually or socially, or even materially, than it could
do, and was bound to do. It has ever been well content to " sit at
the receipt of custom," and commit to private benevolence the
duty of promoting the welfare of the people. It appoints, on an
average, only one European Magistrate for the administration of
justice amongst 2,00,000 souls; one Engineer Officer for the
construction of public works (that is, works directly conducive to
the increase of the revenue) for every 8,00,000 souls ; and for the
millions upon millions of souls forming the population of the
Madras Presidency, exclusive of the city of Madras itself, not one
106
schoolmaster -not even one. It punishes the subjects when they
violate the law, but not a Rupee does it expend in teaching the
masses of the agricultural populace to read and understand the
law. It considers it its duty, or finds it conducive to its interests, to
give a superior education to a few of its own officials; but the
Shanars and the rest of the laboring classes are too low in the
scale of caste importance to be thought worthy of Government
employment, and therefore too low to expect to receive any
instruction from the Government. Hence, except European
Christians , moved by compassion and Christian charity, extend to
them the benefits of Christianity, and of religious and secular
education, it is not likely that they will ever be taught a single
letter. *
In pleading for the continuance and increase of Christian
effort in behalf of the Shanars ,1 do not desire that any efforts to
educate and evangelize the higher castes and the inhabitants of the
large towns should cease. Nor indeed is there any need to fear that
those classes will be neglected; for the schools of the Scottish
Missions, established for the benefit of those classes alone, have
always excited a larger degree of public interest than any other
department of Missionary labor. It is certainly natural and proper
that those excellent Institutions should receive special sympathy
and support. The influential position and the superior intelligence
of the class to which the pupils belong; their thirst for knowledge
and aptness to learn, their
* It must however be mentioned in connection with the above
statement that the Tanjore Mission receives a monthly
allowance of Rs. 350 in support of Protestant Schools. A grant
for this purpose was originally made to Schwartz who
rendered eminent services to the Government , and was
increased on the petition of the late Mr. Kohlhoff to the
present amount ; the Court of Directors being satisfied, to
quote their own letter " that the conduct and spirit of the
Tanjore Mission had proved beneficial to the natives and
107
tended to conciliate them to our Government. "At Madura
also a Catechist has for some time past been paid by
Government, though on the death or removal of the present
incumbent of the office the allowance is to cease. In strict
accuracy it is right to mention these facts of which our
friend the author was not aware , though they scarcely affect
his statement.— EDITOR (of original version).
vivacity and bright looks; the communication of instruction in
English enabling English visitors to take a personal interest in the
tuition; and the high gifts and singleness of mind for which the
teachers are so remarkablethose throw a halo of interest round
such institutions which cannot be expected in favor of equally
necessary, but less brilliant efforts, in behalf of black, dull country
children, and their blacker, duller parents. The more pleasing the
path of duty can be made, and the more the eye, and the ear, and
the imagination can be enlisted on its side, the greater number will
be found to patronize it. So far all is well. But whilst this
department of Christian duty is attended to, I plead that our
endeavours to evangelize the Shanars and Agricultural classes
should not be allowed to relax. Shall works of charity be done
only in the sunshine ? shall exclusion from grace be the
punishment of having dull eyes and hard hands ? It is said " open
thy mouth for the dumb;" and I but fulfil this command by
pleading in behalf of the Shanars that the voice of their necessities
, their preparedness for Christianity, and their readiness to receive
it, be listened to. I plead that the hundreds in the Presidencies
should not intercept from the tens of thousands in the country
their just share of educational and religious advantages; that whilst
Government employees are well cared for, the producers of the
country's food should not be abandoned to their fate. Should
Christianity confine herself to large towns ? Should the pagani be
condemned to be pagans for ever ? Have not the Shanars and
Pariars and the rest of the labouring classes souls to be saved, or
108
lost, as well as the wealthy ? It is the glory of Christianity that out
of weakness she is made strong, and that she chooses " the weak
things of the world, and the things that are despised, yea and
things that are not, to bring to nought things that are." Let us not
then " mind high things, but condescend to men of low estate ;
" remembering the words of the Lord Jesus: - go into all the
world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. "
It is an error also to suppose that any change in the
opinions of a few of the wealthy, intellectual inhabitants of the
Presidency and the other great towns is likely to influence the
minds of the country poor, hundreds of miles off. Opinions do not
circulate amongst the Hindus so readily or so rapidly as in
England. Sometimes a mere report will take half a year to travel
from the Presidency to Cape Comorin. Opinions also do not as in
England extend equably from class to class, but only circulate with
a gyratory motion within the caste in which they originated.
Ordinarily the enlightenment and evangelization of one class
produces scarcely any perceptible effect upon others. It is the custom
for every caste and class to have prejudices and practices of its
own; and it is not the custom for any caste or class to imitate or
borrow from its neighbours. Consequently every caste , or at least
every circle of castes, must be made the object of special Christian
effort. The high castes in the towns cannot be reached but by the
instrumentality of superior English schools. Consequently, those
schools foim a part, and an essential one, of the entire apparatus
of Indian Missions. The Shanars, and the agricultural classes
generally, cannot be reached but by a parochial system of village
congregations and village schools, such as has been established and
is in operation in Tinnevelly. I plead therefore that this department
of Missionary labor be considered as equally important, and
supported, in proportion to the number of the stations and the
extent of the area occupied, with an equal measure of zeal.
Our hope of the elevation of these tribes must solely
depend upon the extension and enlargement of our own Missions.
109
m TiraieVe% f ° r ^ 3
of Paraver >«* *« «*• caste
of Romanism is unfavourable to improvement
introducing the elements of education among" XavieTs *
has not yet been commenced and not ° gS ‘ XaVIerS averts
‘he New Testament has been hanslated into T am d d” ^
hundred years that have elanced • mi durm S the threi
'*0 the satisfaction of Ivl'canTd “ ™ bu ‘ ^ved
/and morals the Romanist Hind mc l UIrer ' that in intellect,habits
in the smallest degree Every ne 7°‘ ^ ^ *** Athens
the difference between the Ronu ° ^ Informat ion is aware of
intellectuaUdealized p ^ e m Ro r • ^ ^ ^ and
Romanism found in ndi s i n ^ B “‘ the
Italian and Portuguese ^
national character a mnm v i m Frenc h,from whose
have been expected have foi /*% ^ reformin g s Phit might
introduce practical reforms, amongst the USageS '° r
they expelled the Portuguese priests. The gI '! 8atlons hom wh ich
endeavouring to raise th P w a re nch Jesuits, instead of
their's , They have adopted notTnly ^d^ l6Vel ' haVe SUnk to
of life, but even the caste nm a- Y ress / manners, and mode
people they came to ZlZ T" ^ PrediIeCti ° nS ° f
them the attachment of the Hi cT ^ gained for
respect. How can they r e" '' Ut “ ^ f ° rfeited ^ir
civilization to their oL PerS ° nS Wh ° ^ fr ° m a hi 8 h
^ should teitro^rrrr ; id who copy wL
neither establish schools ■ ’ ou d command; who
with performing masses and held adu,tS/but content themselves
consequence of these thinvs Ro § Pr ° CeSSi0nS by t0rch - ,ight? ^
parts, is powerful only for the maniSm,as ach ially existing in these
converts om a ° f evibIt "takes no
themselves as a he« a^v ^* hea *«"
genius of Protestantism,the intensTmSnd'^ ^ Pr0greSSiVe
intense, unbending nationality of the
110
Anglo-Saxons, whether English or Americans, preserve them from
so degrading a course ; and in consequence, whether as colonists,
or as teachers of religion, they prove themselves infinitely more
efficient than the flexible French, or the retrograde Portuguese and
Italians.
The only Protestant Missions established inTinnevelly are
those of the Church Missionary Society and the Society for the
Propagation of the Gospel - Societies work harmoniously for the
accomplishment of a common end; each in its own circle of
districts.
The Missions of the latter Society comprise six districts,
with a Christian population of about 10,000 souls; each district
having its circuit of village congregations, its boarding and day
schools , its Catechists, Readers, and Schoolmasters, and its resident
Missionary Clergyman; and the whole provided with a central
Seminary for the training up of an efficient native agency
Unquestionably this is a noble apparatus of Christian benevolence,
whk.. deserves to be maintained in efficiency; and notwithstanding
tic peculiar hindrances and discouragements with which the work
is besot, its results are such as not only to warrant but to call for
its extension and enlargement.
God grant that we never halt in this worthy enterprize
till our efforts be rewarded with complete success - till the
evangelization of this entire race of idolaters and demonolaters
become one of the "many crowns " which encircle the Redeemer's
brow. And what is required for the accomplishment of this object,
but 'he continuance and extension of the apparatus already
emg'oyed , and which has already produced such encouraging fruits
, wi i me continuance of the blessing of the most High God ? Let
ther be an increase in the number of laborers connected with this
and its sister Society proportionate to the greatness of the
entn-pnse, the encouraging openings for usefulness which God is
fror t me to time revealing, and the position, responsibility, and
Ill
means of the Anglican Church; let the Missionary Societies in
Tinnevelly be enabled to teach the elements of Christian truth to
every adult who is willing to learn, and bestow upon every
learner the benefits of pastoral guidance and control; to train up
eve v y child of Christian parents in the knowledge of God's holy
word and in the moral restraints and religious influences of a
Christian education; and to establish in every village where
Christians reside the visible organization of Christ's holy Church
by ‘be administration of the sacraments and the exercise of
ecclesiastical disciplinelet an adequate number of faithful
Missionaries be sent forth to preach among these Gentiles " the
uns^nreliable riches of Christ" —Christ crucified , as the fountain of
pardon and life — Christ risen , as the hope of glory warning
ever / man and teaching every man, in all wisdom, that they may
present every man perfect in Christ Jesus;" and withal let prayer
be continually made to the God of all Grace that He would shower
dove His blessing upon His servants and their work,like rain
upon these arid sandslike rivers in this thirsty ground; and the
tim will come -- will speedily come, — when the Church's prayer
sha bo heard , when she shall see the fruit of her anxieties, and
labe s — her alms , and patience, and faith, and when " a new
son shall be put into her mouth, even praise unto our God."
All things betoken this result, and all things work
tog' her for its accomplishment. " Darkness still covereth the land,
aiu *ross darkness the people;" but let not any one despond; it
is e darkness which precedes the dawn. " The morning appeareth
upm the mountains, " and " joy cometh in the morning. "
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